Plan Goals and Objectives

Every year, the Social Responsibility Committee reviews the shareholder advocacy plan and objectives, which outline the priorities we will address, the companies we will engage, and our goals for these engagements.

STRATEGY: PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

ISSUE: HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Goal: In support of the dignity of each person and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote corporate policies and practices that ensure basic human rights for all peoples and deter exploitation, with a special focus on improving the treatment of women and children, related to migration, forced labor, slavery and sexual exploitation.

Objectives

Engage companies such as travel, retail and trucking companies on compliance with best practice standards to mitigate child and women sexual trafficking including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Engage information and communications technology (ICT) companies on compliance with best practice standards to mitigate online sexual exploitation.

ISSUE: FAIR TREATMENT OF WORKERS

Goal: In support of the dignity of each person and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote corporate policies and practices that ensure compliance with recognized human rights standards, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Core Labour Standards, with regard to worker concerns in the company’s workplace and extended supply chain, with particular focus on improving the working standards of the economically poor and addressing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives

Engage companies on human rights policies and their implementation and metrics.

Engage companies on efforts to ensure compliance with human rights standards in their own workforce and supply chains, including outsourced labor brokers, migrant workers (documented and undocumented), requirements in subcontractor contracts, compliance audits and performance/improvement measurement.

Engage companies operating in conflict-affected areas on the development and commitment to due diligence processes that protect and promote human rights.
Engage companies to assure that, post pandemic, frontline and essential employees have access to paid sick and family leave, and companies prioritize appropriate long-term health, safety and diversity concerns.

ISSUE: IMMIGRATION

Goal: In support of the dignity of each person, our intercultural reality, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote corporate policies and practices that protect the human rights of immigrants based on recognized human rights standards or that prevent migration of persons from countries due to unfair labor practices or treatment of persons in company supply chains.

Objectives

Engage private prisons with immigrant facilities on human rights policies, implementation, and disclosure with implementation metrics, as well as on the practice of family detention, with a focus on protecting the health of incarcerated or detailed people from COVID-19.

Engage companies on advocating for just immigration reform in the United States.

Engage companies to assure protection of human rights of migrants and displaced persons.

STRATEGY: HEALTHY PERSONS AND COMMUNITIES

ISSUE: EQUITABLE ACCESS TO HEALTH FOR ALL

Goal: In support of the human right to health and the dignity of each person, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote fair and transparent corporate policies and practices that are designed to achieve access to quality, effective and affordable health for all persons, especially those who are most vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Objectives

Engage the health sector to ensure that public resources and investment in COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are used equitably and responsibly, including expenditure of taxpayer funds, so we can effectively and sustainably respond to this and future epidemics.

Engage companies to advance the global availability of safe and affordable vaccines, drugs and supplies that address critical health needs, with special consideration for the vulnerable and marginalized populations with an emphasis on reporting outcomes of these efforts.

Engage pharmaceutical companies and other health sector companies to develop pricing practices, business models, governance models, and communication strategies that support healthcare access for all.

Advance strategies that will enhance innovation and address anti-microbial resistance (AMR).
Engage companies on the health impacts of vaping and tobacco products.
Engage opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers about their corporate policies on the promotion and distribution of drugs that lead to addiction and how the company takes responsibility for these practices in all its global markets.
Engage pharmaceutical companies to assure that political spending, lobbying and trade association contributions and other financial support such as political ads and association memberships are consistent with priority of access to health for all.

ISSUE: HEALTHY FOOD PRACTICES

Goal: In support of the human rights to health and food, the dignity of each person, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, with an eye toward racial justice, promote corporate policies and practices designed to make healthy food accessible to all.

Objectives

Engage companies across sectors (food producers, grocery retailers and restaurant chains) on company food policies and practices addressing obesity and undernutrition in both developed and low- and middle-income countries.

Engage food companies, including those making breast milk substitutes (BMS) and infant formulas, on improved labeling of food products and responsible marketing practices, especially as they impact children.

Engage on food-related policies, practices and marketing that impact peoples and economies of lower-income populations as well as ethnically and racially diverse communities in the U.S.

ISSUE: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF CHEMICALS, PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES

Goal: In support of the human right to health, the commitments to reverence Earth and care for people and communities, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, encourage corporate policies and practices so that products, as well as chemicals and technologies used to manufacture products, ensure long-term safety of the consumer and environment.

Objectives

Engage on footprint metrics to screen and compare toxicity of suppliers’ products, testing chemicals for human health and environmental impact (e.g., agriculture, pesticides, water, rare earth minerals), striving for greener use and achieving best practices on company transparency and disclosure of data on the safety hazards of company products.

Engage with companies to reduce the use and availability of plastics and improve recycling programs and capability

Engage with companies and communities where they are located to avoid harm to local plants and animals and to create healthy sustainable environments for all, with a focus on the most vulnerable such as: women; indigenous persons; Black, Latinx and other communities of color; and people who are impoverished.

As a public health issue, engage gun and ammunition manufacturers to adopt more smart technologies for firearms and ammunition. Engage these companies to adopt principles, such as those contained in the Sandy Hook Principles and to report on their lobbying activities and expenses for gun rights.
Engage industries such as gun retailers and distributors, insurers, and financial institutions on their impact on the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. Engage with retailers to restrict which firearms they sell and under what conditions; with insurers on the liability risks of adding firearms to more and more locations; and financial institutions on lending and tracking payments for suspicious sales.
Engage companies in the responsible and ethical use of facial recognition software, especially as it relates to racial and ethnic biases, as well as privacy concerns.
Engage companies to assure that political spending, lobbying and trade association contributions and other financial support such as political ads and association memberships are consistent with the priority of safety of the consumer and environment.

STRATEGY: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

ISSUE: WATER ACCESS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Goal: In support of the commitment to reverence Earth, to care for people and communities, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote corporate policies and practices that respect the human right to water and the responsible and effective use and discharge of water (“water stewardship”) by companies in their business operations and supply chains.

Objectives

Engage companies on science-based water stewardship targets and the human right to water, in their operations and their supply chains.

Engage companies to ensure appropriate assessment of impact of company operations on society, local economy and environmental concerns, with a special focus on environmental justice concerns and the impacts on the most vulnerable such as: women; indigenous persons; Black, Latinx and other communities of color; and people who are impoverished.

ISSUE: CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF COMPANY OPERATIONS IN VARIOUS SECTORS

Goal: In support of the commitment to reverence Earth, to care for people and communities, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote corporate policies and practices designed to move toward a just transition to a low-carbon economy by improving the environmental impacts of company operations and products in industry sectors that are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. (CA100+ = an investor initiative to drive clean-energy transition and achieve Paris goals)

Objectives

Engage companies through CA100+ and other initiatives to adopt science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adopt technologies to monitor and reduce methane emissions, adopt new and cleaner energy technologies, promote efficiency, promote transparency in reporting, and protect consumers, particularly low-income consumers.

Engage companies through CA100+ and other initiatives, particularly in the energy and utility sector, to improve public disclosure and transparency in reporting presented by current and future company operations and products including company plans to manage carbon asset risk and comply with a regulatory scenario that holds global temperature rise to no more than a 1.5-degree Celsius threshold.

Engage companies to ensure a just transition occurs by appropriate assessment and transparent reporting on the impact of low-carbon transition on society, local economies and environment with a focus on limiting the negative economic and social impacts on workers, communities and on the most vulnerable such as: women; indigenous persons; Black, Latinx and other communities of color; and people who are impoverished.

Engage companies to assure that political spending, lobbying and trade association contributions and other financial support such as political ads and association memberships are consistent with priority of a just transition for all.

ISSUE: SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION

Goal: In support of the human right to food, the commitment to reverence Earth, to care for people and communities, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote company practices and policies designed to promote sustainable food production, making healthy food accessible to all and safe for humans and the environment, especially as we build back from the impacts of COVID-19.

Objectives

Engage food producers to promote reporting and adoption of practices supporting sustainability and reduction of environmental impacts at all levels of the supply chain including antibiotics overuse in animal agriculture, genetically modified seeds, water use and water pollution, herbicide and pesticide use, greenhouse gas emissions, and food waste.
Engage on food waste issues, as appropriate, to encourage less wastage of food products throughout the food supply chain.
Engage on food-related policies, practices and marketing that impact Black, Latinx and other communities of color and economies of lower-income populations and communities in the U.S.

ISSUE: EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGIES

Goal: In support of the commitment to reverence Earth, to care for people and communities, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote company practices and policies designed to be accountable and ensure transparency about the extractive industries, including mining processes, water use/contamination, and safety for persons, communities and environment.

Objectives

Improve transparency and reporting on current practices, implementation of best practices and industry standards, human rights impact assessments and community development and impacts.

Assess company risks related to conflict minerals, and the environmental and public health impacts.

Ensure community impact of company operations on socio-economic-environmental concerns are assessed (especially in water-stressed areas), including impact on the most vulnerable such as: women; indigenous persons; and people who are impoverished.

Assess water use and pollution by extractive industries, such as hydraulic fracturing, coal mining, deep-water drilling and oil sands production, including community impacts. Continue to focus on adopting technologies to monitor and reduce methane emissions.

Engage pipeline companies to ensure free prior informed consent (FPIC) is used in siting projects, and obtaining community consent during the entire project with a special focus on indigenous communities.

STRATEGY: FINANCIAL SECTOR PRACTICES

Goal: Promote practices and policies of financial companies to enhance fair, sustainable and equitable lending and access to capital.

Objectives

Engage financial institutions to ensure consumer lending policies address socioeconomic concerns, particularly on issues impacting women and children, in their lending practices.

Engage financial institutions to ensure commercial lending and investment policies address socioeconomic and environmental concerns, particularly climate change, water stewardship, pipelines, guns and prison financing in their lending practices. In addition, engage asset managers on their proxy voting practices.
Engage financial companies on compliance with legal standards on high-risk financial practices, such as derivatives, asset securitization, predatory mortgage lending and consumer credit practices as well as implementation of corporate governance policies on business standards.

STRATEGY: CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

ISSUE: RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES

Goal: Promote transparent and understandable corporate policies and practices in support of just and fair compensation for all classes of workers and achieve board member, manager and employee diversity to advance women; Black, Latinx and other historically marginalized populations; and promote our intercultural reality.

Objectives

Engage companies to address board and employee diversity as well as recruitment, retention, compensation and promotion practices.
Engage companies to add sustainability experts on the board to advocate for positively impacting the environment and/or human rights.
Engage companies to address the racial justice calls of our day in corporate policies and practices.

ISSUES: POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOBBYING POLICIES, PRACTICES AND TRANSPARENCY

Goal: Promote clear and transparent policies and practices on political and trade association contributions and financial support as a means of addressing an underlying cause that undermines companies’ progress on shareholder advocacy priorities and goals.

Objectives

Engage companies to address political spending, lobbying and trade association contributions and other financial support such as political ads and trade association memberships to address advocacy priorities.

ISSUES: SUSTAINABILITY

Goal: Promote regular disclosure of policies, metrics and practices related to key environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities.

Objectives

Engage companies to issue sustainability reports.
Engage companies to address the special issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice in the U.S.