Investors are Partly to Blame for Environmental Destruction: How Do You Investigate?

When the ownership of a company is identified, it is important to examine its investors. Surprisingly, a lot of the funding for environmental degradation comes from the very institutions that are meant to protect our planet. While company owners provide some capital, many businesses are also backed by investors. They can range from individuals to larger entities such as banks, hedge funds, or even governments. Government investments are what prop up some of the world’s most polluting industries and it is especially concerning that these governments are entrusted with the protection and sustainable development of their resources. Government banks from the Global North finance mining and deforestation in the Global South as part of their alleged development investments.

If a journalist wants to investigate this further, the Pulitzer Center’s Data and Research Team touches into the investigative strategies that help uncover the three main money trails and the mechanisms behind them. These three trails involve ownership, investment, and supply chains. Journalists can start by trying to find out who owns the companies, land and other assets involved in environmental destruction. It is important to initially distinguish between the different types of companies. Companies that are publicly traded disclose shareholder and financial information on stock exchange or regulatory websites within reports. Even when the reports are audited, they need to be assessed. State-owned companies are usually owned by the government, but other shareholders may exist, making it useful to investigate further. Finally, private companies vary significantly in ownership structure and disclosure requirements which affects how much information can be accessed about them.

To investigate private companies, one can utilize company registries and international company databases. There are paid database options, such as Sayari, where updated worldwide company owner information can be accessed. Sayari can be useful with uncovering international business networks because it shows if a manager or owner of a company is also involved in another company. While most company registries only allow a search by company name, Sayari allows one to look up a person’s name to see what entities they are involved in. Another effective way to start involves verifying the existence or legal name of a company. OpenCorporates is a free database where journalists can find basic information such as the address, registration date, and industry of the company. A person’s name can also be found using the “Officers” search function, but it is not likely that all the companies in which the person is involved can be found.

In order to investigate a company’s ownership, the next step would be to check the company registries. The majority of countries require companies to register for economic activity, and some of this information is available online. Links to many registries are provided by OpenCorporates, but the level of detail, searchability, and cost varies by country. Companies that are larger in size often provide more detailed reports, whereas smaller companies may submit limited financials and skip audits.

The UK and Belgium offer ownership information and original documents for free, but in other cases, paid subscriptions may be required. Documents such as incorporation filings and annual reports can also be useful. For the countries that lack robust online registries, national or business gazettes can help track company changes. Resources such as ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks and OCCRP’s Aleph can provide leaked information if official sources are limited. Clues about a company’s ownership can be offered by court documents, political bulletins, or even advanced Google searches. These methods may not be as reliable as official documents, but they can still be useful when conventional methods fail.