This fund lands in the 10% of strategies with the lowest ESG risk in the Natural Resources Sector Equity category, earning it the highest Morningstar Sustainability Rating of 5 globes. ESG risk measures the degree to which material environmental, social, and governance issues, such as climate change, biodiversity, human capital, as well as bribery and corruption, could affect valuations. ESG risk differs from impact, which is about driving positive environmental and social outcomes for society’s benefit.
iShares Global Timber&Forestry ETF promotes environmental and/or social characteristics within the meaning of Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. Funds classified by their managers as Article 8 or Article 9 are more likely to deliver positive sustainability outcomes. Currently, the fund has 9.5% involvement in fossil fuels, which compares favorably with 31.9% for its average category peer. Companies are considered involved in fossil fuels if they derive some revenue from thermal coal, oil, and gas. By prospectus, the fund aims to avoid, or limit its exposure to, companies associated with controversial weapons, tobacco, and and thermal coal. The fund fulfills this goal as its investment exposure to each of these activities is negligible. The fund aims to avoid, or limit exposure to, companies in violation with international norms, such as the UN Global Compact or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The fund exhibits negligible exposure (1.09%) to companies with high or severe controversies. Controversies are incidents that have a negative impact on stakeholders or the environment, which create some degree of financial risk for the company. Examples of types of controversies include bribery and corruption scandals, workplace discrimination and environmental incidents. Severe and high controversies can have significant financial repercussions, ranging from legal penalties to consumer boycotts. Such controversies can also damage the reputation of both companies themselves and their shareholders.
iShares Global Timber&Forestry ETF has a 12-month asset-weighted Carbon Risk Score of 11.2. This is situated at the lower end of the medium carbon risk band, suggesting that its portfolio holdings are not among the worst-positioned to transition to a low-carbon economy, but they are not among the best-positioned either. Investors concerned about the transition risks may prefer to consider funds with negligible or low carbon risk. Such funds invest in companies that tend to operate in sectors less exposed to the transition (such as healthcare and IT) and/or companies in more carbon-intensive sectors (such as industrials and utilities) but that consider climate change in their business strategy and products, and therefore are positively aligned with the transition.
United States