Liontrust Responsible Capitalism Report 2024 - Flipbook - Page 99
Engagement on climate change
During the year, the team engaged its holdings on a variety of climate change related issues, including:
Company
What the
group does
Date
Discussion
topic(s)
Discussion summary
Impact on investment
decision (if any)
Industria
de Diseño
Textil, S.A.
(“Inditex”)
Spanish
multinational
clothing
company
January 23
Human rights; The team engaged Inditex following accusations that the group
supplier
had changed its tolerance stance for human rights abuses (Inditex
oversight
had removed a statement for its Zara brand saying it would not
tolerate human rights abuses). During engagement, Inditex related
that it retains its no tolerance policy; that it has oversight of its
supply chain with monitors and auditors on the ground; that it
enforces its code of conduct for suppliers; and that around 98%
of its products are sourced from A and B rated suppliers.
Banco
Santander,
S.A
(“Santander”)
Spanish
multi-national
financial
services
group
September
2023
Business
practices
The team engaged on potential controversies, as highlighted
None
by MSCI, around anti-competitive practices, customer relations,
labour practices, and bribery and fraud. The group promised
to update the team on these areas. With regard to labour
management, the group is using internal surveys to get feedback
from employees.
Société
Générale S.A
(“SocGen”)
French
financial
services
group
October
2023
Project
financing
SocGen stated that it plans to streamline its business portfolio to None
align more with ESG, partly by simplifying its holdings across its
business and focusing on where it can be profitable. The group
commits to working with clients on (clients’) net zero plans,
accelerating its own decarbonisation plans, and looking for
new, energy-efficient technologies and approaches. The group
has also set new carbon reduction targets; for funding for oil
and gas projects, these include: a 70% reduction in absolute
carbon emissions by 2030 and an 80% reduction in upstream
oil and gas exposure by 2030 versus a baseline of 2019.
Compagnie de
Saint-Gobain
S.A (“St
Gobain”)
French
multi-national
group which
produces
a range of
materials
August 2023
Grenfell tower Since the Grenfell cladding issue, St Gobain has implemented a
updates;
number of improvements in its systems relating to product quality
and safety, including whistleblowing procedures and incorporating
alleged water
ESG checklists into the group’s control framework. Also, the group
contamination
has facilities with alleged water contamination. Class action
lawsuits have been settled for sites in New York and Vermont and
the group is working with local authorities on other sites.
UniCredit
S.p.A
International
banking
group
August 2023
Factoring
carbon into
lending
decisions;
sanctions fine
in May 2019
This engagement
provided the team
with enough comfort to
initiate a position.
None
UniCredit has been part of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) None
since 2021. In January 2023, the group published its targets
for the Oil and Gas, Automotive and Power Generation sectors
and will set net zero 2030 interim targets for other sectors by
2024. UniCredit is defining its group position plan, which will
be updated by 2024. The group’s main objective is to support
clients in their climate transitions. It has policies on fossil fuels,
including coal and oil and gas. In terms of the sanctions fine
in May 2019, the group was fined $1.3 billion by the US
authorities for its role in helping clients from countries like Cuba,
Iran, Libya and Sudan to circumvent US sanctions. This case has
been concluded, both legally and economically, and the group
has put controls in place to avoid future (related) issues.
ADHERENCE TO LIONTRUST’S CONTROVERSIAL
WEAPONS POLICY
• The Cashflow Solution team adheres to this policy, which
excludes investment in companies with involvement in cluster
munitions, anti-personnel land mines, biological weapons and/
or chemical weapons.
• Liontrust’s controversial weapons policy can be found on the
following web page: https://www.liontrust.co.uk/about-us/
corporate-sustainability/a-responsible-investor
Responsible Capitalism Report 2023 - 99