Major Financial Institutions, Including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, Invest in Chinese Drugmakers Using Endangered Animal Parts, Environmental Group Reports

Investments in Beijing Tong Ren Tang, Tianjin Pharmaceutical, and Jilin Aodong Medicine Group drawing criticism due to use of leopard and pangolin parts in products, despite 47 of the 62 involved companies having signed UN initiative to consider environmental impacts in investment decisions.

Major financial institutions, including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, have invested in three publicly listed Chinese drug manufacturers that use parts of vulnerable and endangered animal species, such as leopards and pangolins, in their medicinal products, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
The implicated companies - Beijing Tong Ren Tang Group, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Group, and Jilin Aodong Medicine Group - are among 72 firms authorized by China's drug regulator to use these animal parts in their traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products.
Despite investments in these firms, 47 of the 62 involved companies have signed a UN initiative to consider environmental, social, and governance impacts in their investment decisions, and some are represented on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.
Parts from these endangered animals, such as leopard bones and pangolin scales, are used in TCM for treating various ailments. The extensive use of these animal parts in TCM is criticized as pushing these species closer to extinction.
While some investors have defended their investments as based on passive index-based investment strategies or made on behalf of clients, the EIA is urging these shareholders to divest their stakes in these Chinese drug manufacturers that are contributing to wildlife endangerment.