Toni Petersson, CEO, Oatly.

What is Blackstone?

Two Brazilian firms owned by a top donor to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are significantly responsible for the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest, carnage that has developed into raging fires that have captivated global attention.

The companies have wrested control of land, deforested it, and helped build a controversial highway to their new terminal in the one-time jungle, all to facilitate the cultivation and export of grain and soybeans. The shipping terminal at Miritituba, deep in the Amazon in the Brazilian state of Pará, allows growers to load soybeans on barges, which will then sail to a larger port before the cargo is shipped around the world.

The Amazon terminal is run by Hidrovias do Brasil, a company that is owned in large part by Blackstone, a major U.S. investment firm. Another Blackstone company, Pátria Investimentos, owns more than 50 percent of Hidrovias, while Blackstone itself directly owns an additional roughly 10 percent stake. Blackstone co-founder and CEO Stephen Schwarzman is a close ally of Trump and has donated millions of dollars to McConnell in recent years.

@theintercept https://theintercept.com/2019/08/27/amazon-rainforest-fire-blackstone/

OK, gotcha: they destroy the Brazilian rainforest and donate a lot of money to Donald Trump. Anything else?

The UN’s housing advisor has accused private equity firms and one of the world’s largest corporate residential landlords, Blackstone Group, of exploiting tenants, “wreaking havoc” in communities and helping to fuel a global housing crisis.

In a stinging critique of the role of private equity in the housing market UN rapporteur Leilani Farha and co-author Surya Deva, chairperson of the UN Working Group, singled out Blackstone’s business practices – which they claim include massively inflating rents and imposing an array of heavy fees and charges for ordinary repairs – as having “devastating consequences” for many tenants in countries around the world.

In a series of letters to Blackstone and government officials in Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and the US, Farha and Deva accused private equity and asset management firms like Blackstone and its subsidiaries of undertaking “aggressive evictions” to protect its rental income streams, shrinking the pool of affordable housing in some areas, and effectively pushing low and middle-income tenants from their homes.

Patrick Butler https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/26/blackstone-group-accused-global-housing-crisis-un

Ah, so Blackstone also evicts tenants who can't pay exorbitant and inflated rents. Gotcha. No living for humans and animals, and, well, nothing for animals.

Anything else?

The Swedish oat milk maker Oatly has been valued at about $2bn in a funding round led by the world’s largest private equity firm Blackstone that also drew in Oprah Winfrey and the entertainment agency founded by rapper Jay-Z.
@FinancialTimes https://www.ft.com/content/df32c5ec-cc28-4ec4-b400-a9fe2af5af47

Don't forget Natalie Portman, as she also chipped in.

What do Oatly say?

just as their present investment will have a long-term impact on the growth and success of our company—including our ability to achieve our mission of making it easier for consumers across the globe to live healthier and more sustainable lives by choosing plant-based foods. (3/4)
— OatlyUS (@OatlyUS) July 15, 2020

Mmm. Growth, tasty growth for your shareholders. So, selling out to hurt animals and evict people for the same of greed is 'success', according to Oatly.

I'll keep the planet, the animals, and some kind of human dignity before selling out, thank you.

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://niklasblog.com/?p=25147

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