ESG has formed a critical part of our team’s philosophy and process since the inception of the RBC Emerging Markets Equity Strategy (“the strategy”) in 2010. Given this long-standing focus on integrating material climate change and environmental factors into our process, the strategy already has strong climate-related credentials, with a significantly lower carbon footprint than the MSCI EM Index. Ultimately, our view has always been that companies that invest and plan for the future and focus on a rang e of ESG factors, including climate change, have more durable business practices and are therefore more likely to achieve resilient, long-term returns while also avoiding the risks. We recognise the importance of the principles of the Paris Agreement1 and the international goal of limiting the global temperature rise to well below 2°C and preferably no more than 1.5°C by the end of the century, in order to mitigate climate risk. As part of this commitment, we have made measuring and monitoring the climate-related risks and opportunities of our strategy a key focus of our ESG research.

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