Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Approach We are committed to operating in a responsible, transparent and sustainable manner. Our leadership (through the ESG Steering Committee launched in 2022) and Board of Directors (through the Nominating Corporate/Governance Committee), oversee and advance our ESG initiatives. We recognize that focusing on ESG engagement, integration and impact benefit our stakeholders and are fundamental to our business. Our corporate responsibility and sustainability strategy is focused on adopting leading ESG practices across our business and we were recognized for our leadership in this space over the past year in the following ways:
- Recognized at the Management band level with a CDP score of “B” for taking coordinated action on climate issues;
- Raised MSCI ESG rating from AA to AAA;
- Listed in the FTSE4Good Index since 2012;
- Recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and maintained the level of Sustained Excellence, the EPA’s highest recognition within the ENERGY STAR program;
- Maintained top 30% (3rd decile) ISS Quality Score ranking for each Governance, Environment and Social;
- Named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year;
- Maintained Prime status under the ISS-ESG Corporate rating for the fourth consecutive year;
- Improved GRESB score and maintained GRESB Green Star status;
- Named by S&P Global in the 2022 edition of The Sustainability Yearbook;
- Recognized by Labrador as a 2022 Transparency Award winner in the real estate industry for our clear and concise disclosure of relevant information to stakeholders in our annual proxy statement, Form 10-K, and investor relations website
- Named to the top 30 percent of Newsweek’s America’s Most Responsible Companies list for the fourth consecutive year; and
- Named to Sustainalytics 2022 Top-Rated ESG Companies list.
Environmental We strive to reduce our environmental impact by increasing energy and water efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and by investing in projects that reduce energy and water consumption that meet our rate of return threshold. After several years of portfolio and program evolution, along with our increased ability to collect data in partnership with our operators and tenants, our property-level sustainability dataset (energy, greenhouse gas ("GHG"), water, and waste) is evolving to become a set of tools for benchmarking. A portion of our self-managed Outpatient Medical portfolio is benchmarked in EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager ("ESPM") and we regularly engage with our operators and tenants on ENERGY STAR, utility bill aggregators, utility companies, and others to add to our number of ESPM benchmarked properties throughout our portfolio.
We have employee, tenant, operator/manager and vendor engagement programs in place, focused on operational strategies to drive energy and water efficiency. We have issued guidance with accompanying training to assist them to successfully benchmark our buildings and to engage them to improve energy and water efficiency, as well as increase their recycling diversion rates.
In December 2019, we issued our inaugural green bond of $500,000,000 of 2.700% senior unsecured notes due 2027 and in March 2022 we issued an additional green bond of $550,000,000 of 3.85% senior unsecured notes due 2032. The net proceeds from the offerings have been, and continue to be, used to fund energy efficiency, water conservation and green building projects. As of September 30, 2022, we have utilized $572,090,000 of proceeds from these issuances on such projects.
We understand that as we continue to make our operations and buildings more sustainable, we also have a responsibility to effectuate the same in our supply chain and our purchasing decisions. As such, we partner with suppliers that offer take back programs for their products, look for the ENERGY STAR label when purchasing eligible items, seek to purchase office supply products that contain recycled content and purchase paper products that are either Forest Stewardship Council or Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified.
Social We value and are committed to our employees. We believe that a diverse workplace produces a variety of perspectives, motivates employees and helps us understand and better serve our stakeholders, and the communities in which we do business. As of December 31, 2022, our U.S. employees self-identified as follows:
Ethnicity
Male
Female
Asian
%
%
Black or African American
%
%
Hispanic or Latino
%
%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
—
%
%
Two or More Races
%
%
White
%
%
%
%
Gender
%
%
Male
Male
We have reinforced our already strong commitment to diversity and inclusion through our Diversity Council and support of our eight employee network groups ("ENGs"). Our ENGs include women, families, racial and ethnic minorities, military, young professionals, and those who identify as LGBTQI+ and their allies. Our ENGs provide support, education, networking opportunities and community belonging for our employees. Our support of diversity and inclusion through our Diversity
Council and ENGs, taken together with other employee initiatives, such as tailored messaging, training and discussions on equality and belonging, support our efforts to compete for and foster talent and inclusiveness in an ever-changing workforce.
In addition, we have several social initiatives in place that are focused on fostering a more diverse workforce, engaging with our communities and promoting the health and well-being of our employees, tenants and residents. The Welltower Charitable Foundation (the "Foundation") financially supports charitable initiatives related to aging, health care, the environment, education and the arts. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided more than $42 million in cash and in-kind support. We encourage our employees to give back to the community by matching their contributions and donating their time to eligible charitable organizations. Funds are also allocated to each of our ENGs to make charitable contributions in support of their programming efforts. Additionally, the Foundation facilitates presentations for charities to compete in the Give-WELL campaign. This campaign enables our employees to present and vote for charities that will receive donations from the Foundation. During 2022, we sponsored our third annual Day of Giving so our employees could collaborate to make an impact with local charitable organizations through volunteer opportunities. See Human Capital section below for additional information regarding employee initiatives and programs.
Governance Our commitment to diversity starts at the top with a highly knowledgeable, skilled and diverse Board of Directors. As of December 31, 2022, our ten Directors self-identified as follows:
Board Composition
Ethnicity
Gender
Asian
%
Male
%
Black or African American
%
Female
%
Hispanic or Latino
%
%
White
%
%
Nine of our ten Directors are independent and the independent Chair of our Board is held by a Black/African American male. Four of five, or 80%, of our Board committees are chaired by either a Female (2), Hispanic/Latino (1) or Black/African American (1) Director.
Additional information regarding our ESG programs and initiatives is available in our 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance Report (located on our website at www.welltower.com). Information on our website, including our Environmental, Social and Governance Report or sections thereof, is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.