![Rhine basin flooding](https://www.columbiathreadneedle.com.au/uploads/2021/12/c27b74249d683d7934adaae280d96237/rhine-basin-flooding-1024x796.png)
Figure 1: Around 25% of US critical infrastructure is at risk
![Figure 1](https://www.columbiathreadneedle.com.au/uploads/2021/12/5ce2a18b6c84cb38340570dc3c984709/figure-1--1024x492.png)
- Intuit7 announced its commitment to helping 30,000 small businesses in the UK tackle climate action in partnership with the UK government’s #TogetherforourPlanet initiative. Small businesses traditionally do not have the resources to invest in climate-positive business practices. Now through their engagement with Intuit QuickBooks, these businesses will be encouraged to cut their carbon emissions in half by 2030 and seek net-zero emissions by 2050 with Intuit providing them with practical guidance and resources to achieve these goals.
- Cooper8 finally received approval for its MiSight myopia (short-sightedness) treatment lens in China for children ages 8-12 years. This will expand Cooper’s positive health impact as it helps treat what is being referred to as China’s myopia epidemic. According to a recent study9 nearly 60% of students aged six to 18 in China are now myopic which is largely a result of them spending most of their time indoors depriving them of the sunlight that allows their eyes to develop.
- Nomad foods10 (parent company of frozen food brands including Birds Eye) had its emission reduction targets covering both its own operations (scope 1 and 2) and supply chain (scope 3) approved by the SBTi. In addition, Nomad Foods said it would work with its partners to ensure that the top 75% of its suppliers by emissions will have their own sciencebased targets by 2025.
- AkzoNobel11 announced carbon reduction targets for its full value chain which subsequently received approval by the SBTi. This makes AkzoNobel the first paints and coatings company to receive this endorsement.
1 Climate scientists shocked by scale of floods in Germany, guardian.co.uk, 16 July 2021.
2 China Coal Futures Surge to Record as Flood Swamps Mine Hub, Bloomberg.com, 10 October 2021.
3 Nationwide Resilience Report Finding 25% of All Critical Infrastructure and 23% of Roads Have Flood Risk, firststreet.org, 11 October 2021.
4 Economist, 16 October 2021.
5 Climate Impacts on Latin American Hydropower, IEA.org, January 2021.
6 Economist, 9 October 2021.
7 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
8 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
9 Shanghai East China Normal University study.
10 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
11 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
![Desert](https://www.columbiathreadneedle.com.au/uploads/2021/09/04ec1c22491ddc23d6ff065cf98ac089/gso_large-banner-1024x390.png)
Sustainable theme focus: Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink
Figure 2: Sectoral water risk impacts vs the cost of action
![Us dollars bilion chart apparel](https://www.columbiathreadneedle.com.au/uploads/2021/12/6ee313fb29a4307ed82dfbacc5108b68/figure-2.png)
Source: CDP Global Water Report 2020.
What are the solutions?
In our strategy, we are invested in several companies that are helping to
solve for the world’s water challenges, including:
- Xylem10, the world’s largest listed water infrastructure equipment
provider with 90% of its sales aligned with Sustainable Development Goal #6: clean water and sanitation. Xylem is focused on investing in and innovating for smart water solutions that combine water technologies with sensing, monitoring, and analysis to enable the
use of data to improve sustainable outcomes. In fact, it has set a goal
to save more than 16.5 billion cubic metres of water using these advanced technologies that both avert water loss and enable water reuse.11 - Ecolab12 is a business services company that helps its customers
manage one trillion gallons of water annually. It provides water solutions for its commercial customers, including digital tools such as Smart Water Navigator, that helps it to identify and implement water reduction, reuse and recycling programmes. This helps
customers both reduce their water usage but also improve their water
quality. Ecolab has set a target of helping customers save 300 billion gallons (1.1 billion cubic metres) of water each year, equivalent to the annual drinking water needs of one billion people.13 - Trimble14 offers precision agriculture technology solutions that help its customers, both farmers and contractors, to maximise water-use
efficiency for farmland while improving crop yields. In fact, its solutions help improve crop yields by 30% with up to 20% higher water efficiency.15
Figure 3: Virtual water – the invisible export trade affecting emerging and frontier nations
![Virtual water meaning](https://www.columbiathreadneedle.com.au/uploads/2021/12/9bdce7a520682040a77664ea484ee3ef/figure-3.png)
1Why Cape Town Is Running Out of Water… nationalgeographic.com, 5 March 2018.
2 www.waterwise.org.uk/save-water/
3 Bohatch, Trevor (16 May 2017). “What’s causing Cape Town’s water crisis?”. Cape Town: Ground Up. Retrieved 1 June2017; “Cape Town Population 2019”. World Population Review.
4globalwaterintel.com, 3 April 2018.
5 Clean Water Facts and Information, nationalgeographic.com.
6 UNESCO Water climate report, 22 March 2020.
7 Food & Agriculture Organisation of the Untied Nations, globalagriculture.org, November 2016.
8 Non-Revenue Water Reduction Programmes, Global Water Intelligence, 1 May 2021.
9 Non-Revenue Water Reduction Programmes, Global Water Intelligence, 1 May 2021.
10 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
11 Xylem 2020 Sustainability report.
12The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
13Ecolab 2020 Sustainability report.
14The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
15Trimble 2020 Sustainability report.
16The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
17TSMC retains third place in global IC supplier ranking, Taipei Times, 31 May 2021.
18TSMC CSR Report 2019, tsmc.com.
Company 3Q21 engagement highlights
![Engagement Highlights](https://www.columbiathreadneedle.com.au/uploads/2021/12/34613cd238f770cdb6a7786ec0e3bafd/engagement-highlights.png)
2 SIG Combibloc 2019 sustainability report.
3 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
4 The mention of specific stocks is not a recommendation to deal.
5 Ecolab investor presentation 2021.