PGGM

In terms of its approach towards impact management, PGGM acknowledges that its financing activities have both positive and negative impacts and it identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. It describes its approach to engagement on sustainability themes and impact topics with investees, including its approach to engagement escalation. PGGM also publishes an overview of its engagement activities over 2021 and publishes case studies of successful and unsuccessful engagement with investees.  

PGGM has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050. It discloses absolute financed emissions, including the underlying data quality and coverage. It also discloses the key sectors it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate change, including requiring companies within the fossil fuel sector to align with the Paris Agreement. PGGM is a member of Climate Action 100+. Further, the financial institution discloses the share of investments it devotes to climate solutions and uses an internationally recognised framework to classify them. Additionally, it discloses the share of its assets under management directed towards all fossil fuels. PGGM discloses nature- and biodiversity-related impacts as one of the engagement topics with its investees and discloses the monetary amount of its investments in nature- and biodiversity-related solutions. 

PGGM has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights. It also discloses categories of stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. The financial institution also has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption.  

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, PGGM could assign responsibility for sustainability to the group’s highest governing body. It could also set a public commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only 1 out of 3 board members are women. PGGM also has an opportunity to reach at least 40% female representation in senior leadership positions.  

While PGGM has an interim emission reduction target for one of its clients, it has an opportunity to disclose an interim absolute emission reduction target across all its assets under management. The financial institution could also discloses time-bound targets explicitly for its climate solutions. While PGGM has a fossil fuel phase out strategy in place for its biggest client, there is no evidence that this strategy applies across all assets under management. PGGM could commit to minimising the negative impacts its investments have on nature and biodiversity. 

PGGM has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its investment activities. It could also establish a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals and communities to raise human rights complaints or concerns. It has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group, gender or another indicator of diversity. The financial institution states that it has a process for identifying bribery and corruption but could disclose details of this process. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, PGGM could disclose the amount of finance directed towards low-income developing countries.