2020-2030
Discover the direction we believe engagement will take during this critical decade for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Discover the direction we believe engagement will take during this critical decade for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In the coming decade, we believe engagement will increasingly focus on both financial returns and sustainability outcomes. The achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is critical not only for human development, but also for creating the right economic and social conditions for long-term prosperity.
BMO Global Asset Management’s voting, engagement and public policy work is conducted independently of the wider BMO Financial Group. Positions taken by BMO Global Asset Management may not be representative of the views of the BMO Financial Group as a whole or of the other lines of business within it.
All of our investment plans involve a level of risk and the value of your investments can go down as well as up. The level of risk will depend upon the underlying investments that you choose to hold in the plans. You need to be comfortable that you may not get back the original amount invested.
Emma Lupton, Vice President in our Responsible Investment Team, talks about our engagement plans for the future, with a specific focus on the SDGs.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a key reference point for measuring impact. They are 17 goals and 169 associated targets, providing a useful tool for companies and investors to be able to contribute to achieving a more sustainable future by 2030. The framework has created a common language between stakeholders, and we are seeing that have a positive impact within our engagement.
As pioneers in responsible investment, at BMO, we use the SDGs as a framework for engaging for positive change. Hover over the wheel below to discover how our engagement with companies in 2020 linked to the different goals and targets.
In 2020, 79% of our engagement was linked to SDGs. We positively contributed to 10 of the 17 SDGs.
Click on the wheel below to discover how our engagement with companies in 2020 linked to the different goals and targets.
In 2020, 5% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 1
In 2020, 3% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 3
In 2020, 8% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 5
In 2020, 2% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 6
In 2020, 5% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 7
In 2020, 19% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 8
In 2020, 12% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 12
In 2020, 16% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 13
In 2020, 2% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 15
In 2020, 3% of our engagement linked to SDG goal 16
2. Zero Hunger, 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 10. Reduced Inequalities, 11.Sustainable Cities and Communities, 14. Life Below Water
21% of our engagement does not have a direct link to a specific SDG target. The majority of these engagement activities are on corporate governance, which we view as an essential building block in creating more sustainable, better run companies. The main exception is our engagement on board diversity, much of which has covered gender diversity issues, which we see as supportive of SDG 5 and targets 5.1 and 5.5 in particular, but has a wider application to the achievement of other goals such as SDG 8 and SDG 10.
“The debate on ESG has moved beyond risk and opportunity. The more fundamental question now being asked is what is the role of the financial sector in creating a fairer and more sustainable society?”
Vicki Bakhshi, Director, Analyst, Responsible Investment
Perspectives on stewardship are shifting towards looking more holistically at our responsibilities for shaping the market and economy as a whole. Climate change, ocean health, biodiversity and public health are all key systemic risks that cannot be addressed by engagement with companies alone. Investors must expand their focus to public policy, and building relationships with other stakeholders, including NGOs and academic experts.
Over the past decade, engagement has been almost exclusively led by developed-market investors, primarily in Europe and the US. Given the increasing introduction of responsible investment regulations, guidelines and practices, we expect to see active ownership become a much stronger feature of the local investor agenda in other markets this decade.
This decade is vital to achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, and engagement here is evolving. Collaboration is taking place at an unprecedented scale through the Climate Action 100+ initiative, while investors are increasingly expressing their dissatisfaction with companies failing to address climate issues by voting against management resolutions.
Vicki Bakhshi, Director in our Responsible Investment Team, provides her view on climate change engagement for the future.
The ‘S’ – social – of ESG has been historically difficult to define and quantify. But the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted society and shaken our assumptions about the way we live. It has also painfully exposed social and economic inequalities.
Against this backdrop, social issues are now among the most pressing issues for companies globally. It has also become clear that all elements of ESG are fundamentally linked and of equal importance.
This decade, we expect investors and data providers to overcome the challenges that have prevented the analysis and integration of social factors to step up their engagement, while carefully balancing interconnections with E and G issues.