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Accelerating Change. Amplifying Impact.

2021 ESG Impact Report
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In a time of unprecedented disruption and uncertainty, our focused discipline of "Principled Investing" enables both accelerated change and amplified impact.

We believe the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations is critical to managing risk and producing attractive, long-term investment returns. We also recognize our responsibility to encourage improved ESG practices at the companies in which we invest client assets. In this 2021 ESG Impact Report, we share examples of actions we've taken to accelerate progress on climate risk and equality, as well as the governance mechanisms that underpin it all. We also offer industry-leading measurements and disclosure of the reach and impact of our initiatives across investment strategies for all clients.

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Report Highlights

Accelerating Change, Amplifying Impact

In 2021, Boston Trust Walden continued to advance solutions to the world’s most urgent sustainability challenges by engaging portfolio companies directly, voting proxies responsibly, advocating for smart public policy, and contributing to industry best practices related to climate risk, equality, and governance.

2021 Reach and Impact Results

Boston Trust Walden's multi-faceted approach to active ownership included our engagement of three-quarters of the companies held across our investment strategies in 2021. Half of the companies we engaged took steps to strengthen policies, improve disclosure, or advance practices to address inequity, racism, and the global climate crisis.

Demanding Diversity Disclosure

Supporting our commitment to advance workforce equality at every company in which we invest, in 2021 Boston Trust Walden spearheaded a letter representing investor organizations with nearly $1 trillion in assets, calling for the SEC to mandate the disclosure of US employee composition data by gender, race, and ethnicity across job categories.

Getting to Net Zero

Achieving the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 requires interim goals and plans for meaningful action from both companies and investors. In 2021, we became an early signatory to the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative — an international group of asset managers committed to supporting the goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2050 or sooner, in line with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Aligning Lobbying with Climate Science

Companies continue to play an outsized role in influencing public policymaking. In 2021, as a founding partner of the Climate Action 100+ initiative, our firm engaged more than a dozen portfolio companies and filed six shareholder proposals asking for increased transparency on climate lobbying and alignment of direct and indirect policy advocacy with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

Our active ownership initiatives touched 11 of the 17 goals, with strong results across those SDGs most aligned with our focus areas of climate risk, equality, and governance. The outcomes of these changes amplify Boston Trust Walden’s impact well beyond its portfolio holdings.