“Corporate policies that focus only on deforestation and land-use change are not enough to mitigate the risk of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. They fail to consider how agricultural expansion and deforestation increase the risk of pathogen spillover from reservoir to hosts. The study even identifies countries that either invest themselves or host headquarters of companies with investments in hotspots for emerging infectious diseases. Financial risks“Among many other devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has shown what enormous economic costs infectious diseases can have. Investing in sectors that could lead to new outbreaks therefore also carries significant financial risks that investors and governments need to proactively address,” explains Victor Galaz.