Socially Responsible Investment Review June 2024

Nature Action 100

Epworth is a signatory of Nature Action 100; a global investor- led engagement initiative focused on supporting greater corporate ambition and action to reverse nature and biodiversity loss. Epworth, along with other institutional investors, is engaging directly with Johnson and Johnson, Anglo American, and The Home Depot.

Nature Action has six investor expectations of companies:

• Ambition: Publicly commit to minimize contributions to key drivers of nature loss and to conserve and restore ecosystems at the operational level and throughout the value chain by 2030.
• Assessment: Assess and publicly disclose nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities at the operational level and throughout the value chain.
• Targets: Set time-bound, context-specific, science-based targets informed by risk assessments on nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities. Disclose annual progress against targets.
• Implementation: Develop a company-wide plan on how to achieve targets. The design and implementation of the plan should prioritise rights-based approaches and be developed in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and local communities when they are affected. Disclose annual progress against the plan.
• Governance: Establish Board oversight and disclose management’s role in assessing and managing nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities.
• Engagement: Engage with external parties including actors throughout the value chain, trade associations, policy makers, and other stakeholders to create an enabling environment for implementing the plan and achieving targets.

Utilising these investor expectations, the engagement group, including Epworth, began discussions with Johnson & Johnson. We started the conversation around assessment and supplier standards that the company implements, and noted where these dovetail with the biodiversity expectations of investors. Johnson & Johnson were keen to stress their long history of biodiversity efforts, particularly around water management and we look forward to continuing our engagement with the company.

Climate Action 100

During the quarter, Epworth undertook an assessment of our engagement with Climate Action 100+. Epworth has engaged with multinational mining company Anglo American since the initiative started back in 2017. Our original goals for the engagement were to:

1. Have the company decarbonise its asset mix in response to the climate crisis.
2. Better understand the company’s approach to phasing out thermal coal and encourage the company to make a responsible exit from the sector.
3. Push the company to set ambitious, long-term targets to cut scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions in line with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

We believe the company has made excellent strides in the last 7 years across these objectives, although we recognise there is always more to do when it comes to climate. However, we have taken the decision to step down as co-leads for Anglo American.