ESG Focus Areas
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Our Engagements on CHRB assessments 40 Since 2017 NAM has been involved in a collaborative engagement targeting companies that score zero on human rights due diligence in the CHRB assessments. The collaborative engagement is coordinated by the Investor Alliance on Human Rights. The CHRB assessments and company scoring have also been used in our on-going engagements with some very large com- panies on human rights and workers’ rights. Please find below some examples of engagement cases: Starbucks: One successful example is Starbucks. The company has been involved in various labour disputes with staff in the US and the company’s commitments on freedom of association and collective bargaining. We have had several meetings with the company and have used our voting power to support shareholder proposals asking for improved disclosure and performance in regard to worker’s rights and vote against directors. In 2024 Starbucks finally came to an agreement with the unions to begin the discussions on a framework designed to achieve collective bargaining agreements and fair processes for union organizing. While the process is still ongoing, the company tells us they stay committed. Three other examples of ongoing engagements on human and worker’s rights are Amazon, Alphabet and Tesla. As these companies are progressing slowly, we escalated our engagement efforts in 2024: Amazon: At Amazon we re-filed a shareholder proposal we co-filed at Amazon last year – asking the board to commission an independent, third-party assessment of Amazon’s adherence to its stated commitment to workers’ freedom of associa- tion and collective bargaining rights. The Proposal received 31.8% support last year, which is a very good result. Alphabet: At Alphabet (Google) we co-signed an investor letter for Alphabet’s board asking the board to act on a share- holder proposal that we supported last year. The proposal asked the board to publish an independent third-party Human Rights Impact Assessment (“HRIA”) to examine the actual and potential human rights impacts of Google’s AI-driven tar- geted advertising policies and practices. Tesla, Inc.: Tesla has for many years failed to respect union rights in the United States. In 2023 Tesla workers in Sweden went on strike because the company would not sign a collective agreement for its workers – the typical labour market model in Sweden. To escalate our on-going engagement with Tesla we co-filed a shareholder resolution on labor rights and the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining at Tesla’s 2025 AGM. Another issue we have addressed in our engagement with Tesla was their responsibility for sourcing cobalt. Key to the electric vehicle technology is the battery, containing a number of different minerals, including cobalt. To improve our under - standing of industrial mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we commissioned a field study from UK based RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development). The research was published in 2021: The Road to Ruin? Electric vehicles and workers’ rights abuses at DR Congo’s industrial cobalt mines. We have shared and discussed the report with Tesla.
Safeguarding Digital Rights in the Tech Era The application of Human Rights is large and with technological developments, digital rights have become a major topic for us. Information and communication technology companies have immense control over the lives and identities of their users and must commit to respecting freedom of expression and privacy on their platforms and services – such human rights in online envi- ronments are often referred to as digital rights. Companies’ imple- mentation of that responsibility should align with the expectations outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Our Engagements Campaigns The Digital Rights & AI Accountability investor working group This group focuses on digital rights risk which includes privacy, freedom of expression, democracy and security, worker’s rights and child safety online. More than 30 investors participate in these engagements with tech companies. The group also collab- orates with civil society stakeholders and digital rights experts.
UNICEF – Children and the Digital Environment UNICEF is providing policy support in the "Children and the Digital Environment" collaborative engagement. This engage- ment is a Swedish investor engagement targeting Swedish companies, with the goal to support UNICEF on addressing child online safety. Outlook The demand for cobalt and other critical minerals will increase dramatically with the transition to a low carbon economy and so will the environmental and human rights challenges. We believe we can play a constructive stewardship role in the development of a mining sector that meets the needs of society and companies in a responsible manner. We will also continue our efforts on sectors and companies that source and use critical minerals. Privacy issues and workers’ rights are topics we will continue to raise with the tech sector.
40) Reference to companies or other investments mentioned should not be construed as a recommendation to the investor to buy or sell the same but is included for the purpose of illustration.
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