Taking climate action
We believe that climate change is a financially material risk, and that full consideration of climate-related risks and opportunities is both part of our fiduciary duty and a requisite for creating value for clients. We have committed to net zero by 2050, and have established interim short-term and medium-term targets to support our decarbonisation journey.
How we bring theory into practice
Our journey
Carbon footprinted our Equity Funds for the first time
2016
Introduced an exclusion for fossil fuel exploration and production
2020
Carbon footprinted our Fixed Income Funds for the first time
2021
Launched three Green Impact Funds
2022
Introduce our new Climate change Strategy
2023
60%-80% of our Funds financed emissions to be covered by an SBT
2025
Fund emissions reduction of 50%-78% or alignment with a 1.5C scenario
2035
Net Zero across scope 1, 2 and 3
2050
How we do it
Our climate strategy
Progress towards our goals is driven by our Climate Change Strategy. It is based on four pillars where we believe there is both a need for action and where we can make a difference. The four pillars – Decarbonise, Accelerate, Collaborate and Embody – each address a different part of the low carbon transition, targeting the areas where investors have the biggest role to play.
Decarbonise our funds
- We aim to decarbonise our funds in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Each of our funds is covered by a 2025 and a 2035 climate target.
- We will integrate climate analysis into our investment process and conduct bespoke and targeted engagement to deliver against these targets.
Accelerate the transition
- We aim to increase the amount of capital being directed towards climate mitigation and adaptation solutions.
- We will grow our range of sustainable, thematic, and impact funds, and improve our data collection and monitoring of climate-related opportunity metrics.
Collaborate to drive change
- We aim to promote progressive climate action by collaborating with other investors.
- We will participate and lead collaborative investor initiatives to drive change at the corporate level and encourage policymakers to establish supportive regulatory environments.
Embody our standards
- We aim to hold ourselves to the same high standards we expect of investee companies.
- We will initiate and run internal initiatives to reduce our operational emissions, and foster partnerships with local charities to raise awareness and action.
Engaging on climate change
Our Climate Stewardship plan
As part of our Climate Strategy, we have developed a Climate Stewardship Plan, which contains the companies responsible for over 70% of EdenTree’s financed emissions. The Plan sets out 13 climate-related expectations and assesses the performance of the high-impact companies against them. Based on how a company performs, we identify areas for improvement and translate these into bespoke engagement objectives. We then enter into dialogue over a three-year period to drive meaningful change.
Case studies
Climate engagement in action
Scope 3 emission disclosure
Ashtead Group
Scope 3 emission disclosure
Ashtead Group
Issue
Ashtead is an international equipment rental company operating across the US, UK and Canada. It features in our Climate Stewardship Plan due to its material contribution to financed emissions across several EdenTree Funds. When first added in 2023, Ashtead was among the weaker performers, lacking concrete emissions reduction targets, a net zero goal and scope 3 emissions disclosure.
Action
We initiated engagement in 2023 and held a follow-up meeting in 2024, clearly outlining our expectations and reviewing progress made over the year.
Outcome
We welcomed improvements in 2024, notably the setting of a net zero by 2050 target and first-time disclosure of scope 3 emissions. These steps enhanced Ashtead’s performance against several metrics in our Stewardship Plan. However, near-term targets remain weak compared to peers. The company continues to favour intensity-based targets over absolute reductions and has yet to fully commit to science-based targets, though it hasn’t ruled them out.
Looking ahead, our focus will be on strengthening Ashtead’s near-term climate commitments. We plan to re-engage in 2025, with an emphasis on encouraging more ambitious and measurable short-term goals.
Science-based targets
Yara
Science-based targets
Yara
Issue
Yara International, a Norwegian chemical company, is included in our Climate Stewardship Plan due to its carbon-intensive business model and associated transition risks. In our assessment, Yara showed several weaknesses in climate risk management, notably the absence of a robust Climate Transition Plan and failure to set approved science-based targets (SBTs), despite committing to do so in 2021.
Action
We met with Yara in May 2024 to discuss progress on these issues.
Disappointingly, the company had removed its commitment to set a near-term SBT, marking a regression against one of our key engagement objectives. We also noted declining performance across other indicators in our Stewardship Plan and decided escalation was necessary.
To escalate, we supported a shareholder resolution at Yara’s 2024 AGM, urging the company to commit to publishing science-based targets to reduce scope 3 emissions over the short, medium and long term. We also publicly pre-declared our voting intentions via the PRI’s Shareholder Resolution Database.
Outcome
The resolution received 8% support — modest but notable. As Yara has yet to reaffirm its commitment to science-based targets, we plan further escalation in 2025 to drive stronger climate action.
Our insights
Insights
Climate Stewardship Report 2023/24
This report reflects the important role we have in helping to accelerate systemic change. Amid record-breaking heat, and diminishing political ambition, it was a year for climate-focused investors to stand firm.
Climate Stewardship Report 2022/23
We are delighted to launch EdenTree’s first Climate Stewardship Report. It highlights new ambitions, targets and actions all designed to escalate action on climate change as urgent.
EdenTree’s Climate Commitment: now is the time for like-minded investors to step up
In response to evolving policy and industry landscapes, EdenTree redeclares its support for net zero, and reaffirms the company’s commitment to the climate targets laid out in its Climate Change Strategy.