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Rathbone Greenbank Review Spring 2019 Inside this edition Antibiotics Preserving the miracle cure Plastic Reducing waste, protecting value Protein Better alternatives for animals, people and planet? Greenbank Review Spring 2019 rathbonegreenbank.com Rathbone Greenbank Contents Investor Day Preserving the miracle cure 4 Reducing waste, protecting value 6 2019 Plastic: the problem that won't go away 8 Protein: better alternatives for animals, people and planet? 10 Rewilding our world — an interview with With the growing debate on how Monty Halls 12 we decouple economic activity Annual engagement review 14 from unsustainable patterns of resource consumption, this Events and sponsorship review 15 year’s event will explore the role of investors, companies Editor Deputy editor and policymakers in promoting Perry Rudd Andy McCormick a more circular economy. Head of Ethical Research If you have any comments on this publication, please let me know. [email protected] The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2 Savoy Place London WC2R 0BL Wednesday 5 June 2019 9.30am–2.30pm 2 rathbonegreenbank.com Greenbank Review Spring 2019 Welcome to the Spring edition of the Rathbone Greenbank Review Collins Dictionary’s word of 2018 Elsewhere, we look at how the growing We also look back at our other event and popularity of plant-based diets no longer engagement activities throughout 2018 was ‘single-use’, an unsurprising reflects concerns simply about animal and see where our long-term projects and choice for a year during which welfare or personal health. Increasing partnerships are yielding positive results public awareness of global plastic awareness of the environmental impacts in areas as diverse as gaming legislation, of food production and the evidence linking responsible taxation and modern slavery. waste increased significantly. climate change with rising levels of meat Summarising a wide range of sponsored consumption all indicate a growing trend and hosted events during the previous year, Shocking footage of polluted oceans and towards increased demand for alternative we also look ahead to our flagship Investor mounting evidence of how our disposable and sustainable sources of protein. Tackling Day event in June, where we’ll explore the culture is affecting the remotest parts of our overconsumption, reducing land and water ways in which the circular economy works planet highlighted the scale and continuing usage and cutting down on carbon emissions to reduce waste and enhance sustainability growth of this environmental catastrophe. may also contribute to meeting several in business models. In this issue, we consider how the debate of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable surrounding plastic is complicated by its Development Goals. On behalf of the Rathbone Greenbank team, considerable utility as a product. To safeguard I hope you enjoy this edition of our Review. its undoubted value in the world, we must In November 2018, we were delighted to demand far greater sustainability in its sponsor the Durrell Wildlife Conservation production and close the loop on waste. Trust’s annual lecture given by its newest John David ambassador, the explorer and television Head of Rathbone Greenbank Investments Just as the misuse of plastic is a significant presenter Monty Halls. In his talk, he threat to environmental wellbeing throughout focused on the Trust’s work to rewild the world, the misuse and overprescription island ecosystems and reverse the damage of antibiotics presents a growing risk to public inflicted by humans and other invasive health. Antimicrobial resistance has been species. Monty is particularly passionate linked to an increase in drug-resistant about island habitats, which have witnessed infections and a general decline in the a significant number of recorded extinctions effectiveness of antibiotics. Much of the blame and are home to a large percentage of the for this can be attributed to the irresponsible world’s most critically-endangered species. use of existing drugs. Unless antibiotic control After the event, Monty kindly spoke to and efficiency improves quickly, we run the us about his experiences of rewilding risk of seeing a pronounced increase in the and conservation efforts on the number of deaths resulting from what were Galapagos Islands. previously treatable infections. 3 Greenbank Review Spring 2019 rathbonegreenbank.com Preserving the miracle cure Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2019, health secretary Matt Hancock made the case for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to be regarded as a global health emergency, outlining the UK’s 20-year plan to cut the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics and reduce the number of drug-resistant infections. Matt Crossman, Stewardship Director, Rathbone Investment Management rior to the discovery and refinement of In 2013, federal health officials in the US Pantibiotics, there was a strong likelihood estimated that at least 23,000 Americans that the simplest of bacterial infections a year were dying from antibiotic-resistant could prove fatal. Surgical procedures, infections: six years previously, the Centers communicable diseases such as tuberculosis for Disease Control and Prevention determined and even childbirth all presented serious that around 100,000 were dying annually from infection risks that were largely untreatable infections caught in hospitals. in the pre-antibiotic age. Accepting his share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Understanding AMR in 1945 for his discovery of benzylpenicillin The threat posed by AMR becomes clearer 17 years earlier, Sir Alexander Fleming with the understanding of how bacteria acknowledged its phenomenal success in function and proliferate. It’s estimated saving lives, but also warned that an intelligent that the human body contains around and cautious use of antibiotics would be 100 trillion bacterial cells, many of which necessary to maintain their effectiveness. function to keep us well. Many others, however, can cause sickness and have That warning has largely gone unheeded: done so throughout human history: widespread overprescription has enabled in 2008, for example, the human infectious bacteria to evolve and strengthen tuberculosis strain was discovered their resistance to antibiotics. Consequently, in a 9,000-year-old Neolithic burial site AMR is now recognised as one of the most submerged in the Eastern Mediterranean. significant threats to public health today as existing treatments become ineffective Bacteria are both durable and highly adaptable and bacteria quickly develop resilience with an extraordinary capacity to reproduce to new formulas. singular or ‘block’ alterations and resistances. Beyond our individual failings as patients to complete antibiotic courses, we can also point to the widespread prescription of antibiotics for drug-resistant illnesses. 4 rathbonegreenbank.com Greenbank Review Spring 2019 This independent Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark is a huge step forward and shines a light on the pharmaceutical industry's progress in tackling drug-resistant infections. It can help pave the way for a fast transparent learning culture where best practice is shared, progress celebrated and gaps where further work is needed are identified. Professor Dame Sally Davies Chief medical officer and co-convener of the UN Inter-Agency Co-ordination Group on AMR Left: Vets routinely administering antibiotics to livestock. Equally concerning is the use of antibiotics Answering a UN call for action in 2016, to its breakthrough multi-drug resistant to prevent diseases in livestock: in some a coalition of pharmaceutical companies tuberculosis treatment is controlled countries, the World Health Organization and associations formed the AMR Industry through national tuberculosis programmes. estimates that around 80% of medically Alliance to develop sustainable solutions important antibiotic stocks are used to to combat antimicrobial resistance. Agreeing A key feature of the benchmark is its promote growth in otherwise healthy to a common framework, over 100 biotech continuous assessment of post-distribution animals. Finance is also a factor in reduced and biopharma signatories from 20 countries stewardship: how well companies are antibiotic efficiency as research costs are pledged to reduce AMR by 2020 by limiting educating healthcare professionals and extremely high for next-generation medicines. the environmental impact of manufacturing, dispensers on antibiotic prescription and As such, pharmaceutical giants are often addressing antibiotic misuse, and supporting use, and how effective they are at supporting reluctant to push forward into later stages collaborative research and development. efforts to monitor antibiotic resistance. of development and trial. Since 2016, the Alliance has invested a combined $2 billion in AMR research Collaboration, innovative research and Outlook and development. the drive for more responsible antibiotic In response, science is turning back to nature use may not defeat microbial infection for new and robust antibiotic treatments. Leading pharmaceutical companies are also entirely, but together they may help Selman Waksman, a microbiologist who adopting this framework and are now being medicine to regain the upper hand. coined the term ‘antibiotic’ in 1942, spent assessed on their efforts. In January 2018, the years researching soil microbes, discovering Access to Medicine Foundation published its at least 20 antibiotic strains including the inaugural Antimicrobial