The past decade produced a remarkable volume of corporate sustainability pledges: net-zero targets, deforestation-free supply chain commitments, human rights policies, and financing for underserved communities. Setting those goals took real effort. Meeting them will take more.
This past quarter, that shift played out across our engagement work and portfolios. Rising expectations from regulators, communities, workers, and shareholders are testing corporate commitments on climate, deforestation, human rights, and financial inclusion. Some companies are meeting the moment; others are finding that a public pledge is easier to make than to keep.
“Setting an ambitious climate or sustainability ambition is one thing; embedding it throughout the business — across capital allocation, workforce strategies, supply chain management, and policy advocacy — is another. Our engagement work this quarter focused on that harder set of steps so that ambitions can be achieved.”
Mary Beth Gallagher, Director of Engagement
At Domini, we believe the credibility of a sustainable business model depends on evidence that commitments translate into practice. This edition looks at where that translation is working, where it is stalling, and how investor leverage can help move it forward.
What’s Inside:
- Bringing community voices into the boardroom: How we enabled representatives of dairy farm workers exposed to human rights risks and advocates from Gulf Coast communities impacted by fossil fuel projects to attend annual shareholder meetings and raise their concerns directly with boards
- Testing the durability of climate targets: Our engagements with John Deere and Italy’s Hera Group on the integrity of their climate commitments and how they are being translated into operating plans, capital allocation decisions, and customer outcomes
- Advocating for effective deforestation regulation: Our advocacy for the European Union Deforestation Regulation and related engagements with companies on the misalignment between their public commitments and the positions of the trade associations they support
- Supporting economic empowerment for women: Our investment in and engagement on Women’s Livelihood Bond 7a, dedicated to empowering women and girls in South and Southeast Asia to build economic and climate resilience
- Fund investment highlights: Examples of portfolio companies demonstrating leadership in implementing climate transition strategies, biodiversity impact assessments, human rights due diligence, and more
- Tools for evaluating the say-do gap: A look at some practical tools investors can use to help measure the gap between corporate sustainability pledges and real, on-the-ground practices