CSP believes that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles help develop strong, resilient companies and assets that deliver long-term value for our investors.
This ESG policy applies to CSP’s investments in publicly traded equities. Our approach is grounded in a responsibility to our investors to be careful stewards of capital. We have long been implementing a number of initiatives designed to make our companies stronger and more resilient. Many of these, like promoting sustainability and diversity, are today considered core components of ESG.
Investment Approach
As part of our investment process we assess a range of ESG factors, particularly climate change risk.
CSP believes that climate change-related risks, in particular a company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, will have a material effect on a company’s long-term profitability, sustainability and investor returns. These risks include regulation, taxation, competitive disadvantage, brand impairment, financing, physical asset impairment and litigation.
Engagement
We actively engage on ESG to help us understand, quantify and influence a company’s exposure to climate change-related risks and the way it is managing those risks.
CSP requires the companies in which we invest to:
- Disclose greenhouse gas emissions and reduction targets
- Make full annual disclosure to CDP (www.cdp.net)
- Disclose a credible low-carbon transition plan consistent with the CA100 benchmark
- Reduce actual emissions at a pace consistent with the Paris Agreement
- Eliminate forest-risk agricultural commodity-driven deforestation activities by 2025
CSP will, to the extent possible:
- vote against directors where disclosure, plans, or actual reductions of emissions are inadequate
- file disapproval resolutions at AGMs where plans and plan performance are inadequate
Divestment
We will also evaluate divestment where a portfolio company refuses to disclose its emissions, does not have a credible plan for their reduction, or fails to commit to eliminate forest-risk agricultural commodity-driven deforestation.
Investor Reporting
On an annual basis, we will disclose to all our investors on how we vote and will report on the ESG performance of our portfolio companies. We will also explain to our investors the rationale behind our voting at portfolio company AGMs.