Varma joined two new joint initiatives by investors

The collaborative engagement on tech, mental health and wellbeing by the UN-backed organisation PRI involves 33 international investors who manage about 2400 billion euros in investments.

The initiative aims to raise awareness of the possible negative impacts of social media and technology device use on mental health and wellbeing. The international institutional investors involved believe that smart device use can have  harmful effects on mental health. Studies show that screen overuse, especially at too early an age, can lead to concentration and behavioural disorders, the initiative's website states. Social media and device use are considered to expose users to addiction risks.

Investors classify these as ESG risks in the hardware, media, internet, gaming, software, and telecommunications sectors. The initiative seeks to commit companies to follow good practices and identify factors that cause addiction. The initiative also wants to ensure children's safety online and develop reporting of harmful sites.

Investors: Antibiotic resistance of viruses is a global threat

The second joint initiative (Investor Action on AMR Initiative) by investors aims to curb antibiotic resistance (AMR) caused by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Viruses and bacteria that have become resistant can resist the effects of drugs. This way they can continue to grow instead of being killed by antibiotics.

This is a significant health problem globally, as it complicates the treatment of infectious diseases, increases the length of hospital stays, raises treatment costs and mortality. In their petition, investors point out that AMR has been declared one of the ten biggest global threats to human health. In the joint initiative, investors seek to accelerate cooperation, make better use of existing experience and use shared resources to combat antibiotic resistance (AMR).

Antimicrobial residues also spread to the environment, which is why AMR has also become an environmental risk like climate change and biodiversity loss.