Liontrust Responsible Capitalism Report 2024 - Flipbook - Page 45
Engagement themes: Workforce Disclosure Initiative
From a theme perspective, the team engaged with a large percentage
of its holdings on the Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI.) With 60
signatories and managing over $10.5 trillion in assets, the WDI “aims
to improve corporate transparency and accountability on workforce
issues, provide companies and investors with comprehensive and
comparable data and help increase the provision of good jobs
worldwide.”
(source:
https://www.pensionbee.com/press/
pensionbee-joins-the-workforce-disclosure-initiative)
The Sustainable Investment team believes that while there has been
recent progress made in workforce-related reporting, there remains
a lack of meaningful data around corporate workforce and supply
chain practices. Therefore, the team encourages its holdings to
report to (or continue to report to) the WDI.
During 2022, the team wrote to and/or had dialogue with 83
companies to request they participate in the 2022 WDI survey.
Water: Combined sewer outflows (CSOs)
Sewer overflows account for around 4% to 5% of river pollution.
The pollution is harmful to farming communities, public areas,
and threatens individuals’ drinking water. The water industry has
faced increasing scrutiny over the frequency and duration of
combined sewer overflows (CSOs), which has been highlighted
by programmes like Panorama and in reports by environmental
charities such as Surfers Against Sewage.
During the year, the Sustainable Investment team engaged with
Anglian Water, Severn Trent, Thames Water, United Utilities
Group, Welsh Water Holdings and Yorkshire Water Services to
gain a further understanding of how these Groups are tackling
the issue of CSOs. This engagement exercise helped the team
see that water companies are taking the issue very seriously. For
example, many have increased coverage of their networks with
event duration monitors, which are not perfect, but are helping
target underperforming CSOs and develop capital projects
to address them. As public perception and expectations are
increasing significantly on this issue, water companies will need
to make radical improvements to overflow numbers. The lowest
cost contributor to improving the sewer network is ensuring the
public does not dispose of unflushables, and water companies
are making concerted efforts on this front. The costs of replacing
the combined sewer network are far greater and cannot be born
entirely by the water companies. Such extensive overhaul would
mean consumers would have to contribute to these costs at a time
when real disposable incomes are decreasing.
Collaboration between various bodies such as the water companies
and areas that are hit hardest, such as the farming community and
public areas, is essential in reducing the level of pollution making its
way into the UK’s rivers. Increased collaboration between bodies
such as the government, Defra, the Environment Agency and Ofwat
could result in a consistent set of affordable targets for meeting an
agreed environmental standard within a unform time-scale.
Company
What the
Group does
Date
Discussion topic
Discussion points
Yorkshire Water
Water
28/06/2022
Pollution
The team engaged with Yorkshire Water to gain a further understanding of
how they are tackling the issue of combined sewer overflows. The water
industry has faced increasing scrutiny over the frequency and duration of
combined sewer overflows, which has been highlighted by programmes
such as Panorama and in reports by environmental charities such as Surfers
Against Sewage.
United Utilities
Group
Water
28/06/2022
Pollution
The team engaged with United Utilities to gain a further understanding of
how they are tackling the issue of combined sewer overflows. The water
industry has faced increasing scrutiny over the frequency and duration of
combined sewer overflows, which has been highlighted by programmes
such as Panorama and in reports by environmental charities such as Surfers
Against Sewage.
Thames Water
Water
28/06/2022
Pollution
The team engaged with Thames Water to gain a further understanding of
how they are tackling the issue of combined sewer overflows. The water
industry has faced increasing scrutiny over the frequency and duration of
combined sewer overflows, which has been highlighted by programmes
such as Panorama and in reports by environmental charities such as Surfers
Against Sewage.
Responsible Capitalism Report 2022 - 45