Global Investor Initiative Launched to Accelerate the Shift to Safer Chemistry
GENEVA — November 18, 2026 — Hazardous chemicals are embedded in everyday consumer products and global supply chains, yet the financial risks they create remain poorly disclosed, leaving a major blind spot for investors. Concern is growing across the investment community, and a new global initiative, launched yesterday at the Global Framework on Chemicals First International Conference in Geneva, aims to close that gap.
The Global Investor Initiative Towards Safer Chemistry will help investors identify chemical risks across their portfolios, engage companies on those risks, and support the transition to verified safer alternatives.
The financial stakes are already significant. PFAS litigation in the United States has resulted in more than $20 billion in settlement payments, while hazardous chemicals can also expose companies and investors to regulatory changes, product liability, insurance costs, reputational damage, and declining corporate value.
And the risk extends far beyond PFAS.
“Chemical pollution is becoming a material financial issue, but for many investors it still feels too complex to act on,” said Alexandra McPherson, co-founder of Clean Production Action and director of its Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN). “What is changing is that the data, metrics and corporate solutions are finally coming together. This is not simply about avoiding downside. It is about helping companies build resilience, protect long-term value and make a positive transition toward safer chemistry.”
“Chemical risks are increasingly relevant to the long-term value for consumer-facing companies, and investors still lack the information to see potential exposures in the products they use and how companies are managing them,” said Marcy McCullaugh, Director of Sustainability Research at Parnassus Investments. “Comparable data and clear expectations help investors recognize the companies leading the transition to safer chemistry and engage sooner with those who aren’t.”
Convened by the Investor Environmental Health Network at Clean Production Action in partnership with ChemFORWARD, the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund and Chronos Sustainability, the initiative is designed to make chemical risk:
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Knowable: ChemFORWARD’s chemical hazard data and the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund’s metrics make chemical exposure more visible and comparable.
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Manageable: IEHN provides investors with guidance and tools to engage companies and establish clearer expectations for progress.
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Solvable: Industry collaborations show how companies can identify safer alternatives, share the cost of filling knowledge gaps, and move entire sectors toward safer chemistry.
“For the first time, the infrastructure exists to connect what companies know about chemical hazards with what investors need to understand risk and progress,” said Stacy Glass, co-founder and CEO of ChemFORWARD. “Companies are already doing this work. The opportunity now is to bring investors alongside them and create the market momentum that can move safer chemistry from individual leadership to widespread adoption.”
The initiative’s first campaign, Safer Cosmetics for All, will focus on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and other substances of high concern in cosmetics and personal care products.
A companion analysis by Chronos Sustainability and ChemFORWARD assessed 2,194 mainstream cosmetic products and found that 27% contained at least one known endocrine-disrupting chemical. More than half contained either a known endocrine disruptor or an endocrine-active chemical.
“Exposure to and impacts of chemical pollution is a systemic challenge that requires a systematic response from investors. The GII offers a platform to build investors’ capacity, facilitate peer-to-peer exchanges and the opportunity to coordinate the asks of both corporates and policymakers in a constructive fashion, demonstrating a systemic stewardship response to this challenge” said Tanya Cox, Chemicals lead, Chronos Sustainability.
Over the next three years, the Safer Cosmetics for All campaign will use investor engagement, company benchmarks and safer chemistry metrics to encourage companies to reduce dependence on chemicals of concern and increase the use of verified safer alternatives.
This month, the Global Investor Initiative will be introduced in Geneva alongside the first annual meeting of the Global Framework on Chemicals, which calls on the finance sector to incorporate sound chemicals management into investment strategies and business models by 2030.
Investors are invited to become Global Investor Initiative signatories. To learn more or become a signatory, contact Alexandra McPherson, Director of IEHN at Clean Production Action, at alexandra@cleanproduction.org or Tanya Cox, Chemicals Lead at Chronos Sustainability, at tanya.cox@chronossustainability.com.
Please see below for more details on two reports being released by GII:
About Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN)
IEHN is a membership-based, investor collaborative that promotes the use of safer chemicals to enhance shareholder value, public health, and the environment. IEHN recognizes that a company’s brand reputation, public trust, and market share are linked to the environmental and human health risks and safety of its products. Through direct corporate engagement, IEHN members advance solutions and strategies to transform business practices. IEHN is a program of Clean Production Action.
About ChemFORWARD
ChemFORWARD is a science-based, nonprofit organization working to create broad access to chemical hazard data to end the uncertainty about chemical hazards by ensuring that all chemicals entering commerce are well characterized and support safe and sustainable design. Utilizing a data-sharing model, the Chemical Hazard Data Trust, managed by ChemFORWARD, offers users trusted information on comprehensive chemical hazard assessments with a focus on safer alternatives.
About Chronos
Chronos Sustainability Ltd is a UK-based, international sustainability consultancy specialising in responsible investment, multistakeholder initiatives and corporate responsibility to drive change at scale. Chronos builds strong relationships with a broad range of clients and partners to deliver transformative change in the social and environmental performance of key industry sectors.