EOS 2024 Annual Review

The world breached 1.5°C of warming for the first time in 2024, with major hurricanes in the US and flash flooding in Europe, Brazil and Asia racking up billions of dollars of damage. Over the course of the year, EOS at Federated Hermes Limited remained at the forefront of engaging with companies and policymakers for climate action, cognisant of the rising cost of extreme weather events.

In EOS’s 2024 Annual Review of its engagement activities and voting recommendations, engagers Will Farrell and Hannah Heuser examine how, as physical climate risks escalate, investor engagement is increasingly vital to steward companies through the transition. EOS is also placing a greater emphasis on nature-related issues across key sectors such as food and beverage, mining and chemicals. In a Q&A, Joanne Beatty and Ming Yang give an update on our engagement with companies on water quality and scarcity, deforestation and antimicrobial resistance.

Also in the 2024 Annual Review, Ellie Higgins and Ross Teverson outline how we encourage companies to consider and address any human rights issues in high-risk regions. Since we first set out our engagement approach to this topic in 2020, we have seen new flashpoints erupt in Europe and the Middle East, and regulation has tightened. This has increased the need for companies to identify and mitigate their human rights impacts to avoid incurring legal and financial penalties.

In addition, Ross Teverson and Navishka Pandit give an update on EOS’s work on AI and digital rights, and there is a comprehensive look back at the voting season. 

Finally, EOS celebrated its 20^th anniversary in 2024, and won the International Corporate Governance Network’s Excellence in Stewardship Award. This was given in recognition of our pioneering systemic engagement approach to reducing methane emissions – work led by US engager Diana Glassman, with support from engagers across the EOS regional teams. Reflecting on our activity over the past two decades, head of stewardship Bruce Duguid and Hannah Heuser open our Annual Review with an article on the academic studies weighing the effectiveness of engagement.

To find out more, read the EOS 2024 Annual Review.