2020 Annual Review
NATWEST GROUP PENSION FUND Engagement Highlights
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Welcome to our 2020 Annual Review, which outlines the stewardship work carried out by EOS on our behalf. EOS has worked with companies across the globe to address their key risks, challenges and opportunities, covering environmental, social, governance, strategy, risk and communication matters. Alongside this, EOS has continued to engage with policymakers, regulators and standard-setters to help improve market best practice. NatWest Group Pension Fund 3
NatWest Group Pension Fund’s activity for 2020 4
The EOS approach to engagement 10
Foreword 11
Our engagement plan 12
A guide to engagement terminology 15
A decade of action for the UN SDGs 16
Engaging through a pandemic 19
Environmental highlights Taking the temperature 21 Q&A: Biodiversity and sustainable land use 24 Climate change and fossil fuel financing 26 Q&A: Circular economy 28
Social & ethical highlights Safety first – managing employees in a pandemic 30 Racial equity and ethnic diversity 33 Engaging on human and labour rights 36 Q&A: Indigenous rights and Rio Tinto 38 Q&A: AI ethics and data governance 40
Governance highlights Voting season 2020: virtually as good? 43 Q&A: Revisions to voting policy guidelines 46 Q&A: Board composition and effectiveness 47 Regional public policy highlights 50
Strategy, risk and communication highlights Preparing for future crises 52 Business purpose and long-term strategy 55
Afterword 57
EOS team 58 4 NatWest Group Pension Fund
NatWest Group Pension Fund’s activity for 2020
Engagement by region In 2020, we engaged with 274 We en a ed it o panies companies on 1,193 environmental, o er t e ast ear social, governance, strategy, risk and G o a ■ Environmental communication issues and objectives. ■ Social and Ethical ■ Governance Our holistic approach to engagement ■ Strategy, Risk and Communication means that we typically engage with companies on more than one topic simultaneously.