Welcome to Impact Insights, the podcast series of Estuary Investment Managers.

The topic of today's episode is Corporate Climate Engagement.

It is harder than ever to discern between genuine climate leadership and unfounded greenwashing due to the quick

acceleration of corporate climate pledges and the fragmentation of approaches.

Corporate climate engagement is no longer an option.

It's a strategic necessity.

Today's episode features Natasha Gerda, head of research of SSA investment managers.

Natasha, do corporate climate engagements have a real impact?

First of all, the contrary of divesting is not engagement, it's investing.

However, for some stockholders, like passive investors, the choice is limited to avoiding certain sector or even specific companies.

And as owners of a company, a share share privately or publicly its views.

The objective is to try to influence corporate behavior and decision-making.

Various mechanisms can be used to engage with management and the board of directors.

These include voting on resolutions, attending shareholder meetings, filing shareholder proposals, and direct communication

with company leadership.

So can dialogue be initiated to drive positive ESD change?

While the results are mixed, the success rate has been detailed in a study from the University

of Zurich.

So it first depends on the cost incurred by the expected reforms.

Obviously, the cheaper, the higher the success.

And secondly, it depends on the investor's overall influence.

It campaigns for collective initiatives as these regroup a larger size of shareholders.

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