Fidelity International has announced that it will focus on four sustainability themes to drive its investing and engagement approach.

The four themes are nature loss, climate change, strong and effective governance, and social disparities.

Nature loss: Fidelity says it will continue to address these issues namely through its engagement activities, and will vote against companies in high-risk sectors that do not meet its minimum standards of deforestation-related practices and disclosure.

Climate change: The firm says it will be championing developments in transition finance, including innovation in sustainable debt instruments. It will also seek regulatory engagement opportunities that encourage governments to close policy gaps to make green technologies cheaper, and regulators working to channel transition financing to the right places.

Social disparities: This year Fidelity says it aims to pursue its efforts to help decarbonise the economy, while supporting the social transitions in the communities that need it the most through active stewardship, particularly in our thermal coal engagement programme.

Strong and effective governance: Fidelity says it will intensify its dialogue and express its position through voting and shareholder resolutions, continuing to focus on issues such as board effectiveness, corporate culture and behaviour, remuneration and shareholders’ rights and transparency.

Jenn-Hui Tan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Fidelity International says, “At Fidelity, we have long been committed to sustainable investing, and continuously aim to reinforce our approach as the sustainability landscape evolves.

“In line with our ambition to address sustainability-related challenges and to continue to generate strong financial outcomes for our clients, we have focused on the themes of nature loss, climate change, governance, and social disparities as these present the most significant systemic risks for our economic and social systems. Failing to address these issues or looking at each issue in isolation will prevent us from collectively transitioning to a sustainable economy and will negatively impact portfolios.

“In 2024, Fidelity will strive to amplify its active ownership approach as a positive force for driving sustainable business practices in the companies we invest in. In parallel we will continue to contribute actively to the development of key regulations such as SFDR and the implementation of regulation coming into force this year such as CSRD, which we think will be essential for encouraging and harmonising sustainable investing across the industry.”

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