2022 Nuveen Natural Capital Sustainability Report

Natural capital: toward a more holistic land management approach

Responsible land stewardship plays a critical role in ensuring long-term productivity and delivering environmental benefits. This long-term perspective underpinned the rationale for combining our farmland and timberland asset management businesses to create Nuveen Natural Capital.

The 2022 Sustainability Report is the first manifestation of our unified natural capital approach, providing insights into sustainability strategy, metrics and achievements that span what formerly comprised Nuveen’s annual farmland and timberland sustainability reports. Our intent is both to inform and to display our genuine excitement as we pioneer a new generation of investment opportunities that aim for strong results as well as profound benefits for Nature, Climate and People.

Nuveen Natural Capital achieved several milestones in 2021. These included:

• Articulating our sustainability strategy around Nature, Climate, People. This approach underscores the value we place on broader natural capital – including soil health, water and biodiversity – to provide sustenance to a growing population while contributing climate solutions. This holistic triumvirate of objectives means that we avoid unintended negative consequences that may result from the single-minded pursuit of one strategy.
• Piloting natural capital balance sheets to inventory, measure and value the broader natural capital on our properties, including the ecosystem services in place.
• Launching our ESG Framework, with a first cut of farmland data collection and indicators.
• Announcing several NGO partnerships, including external stakeholders’ contributions to this report.
• Making a step-change in transparency as manifested in our recent innovations.
• Pursuing a range of Nature, Climate, People sustainability initiatives on the ground in each of the regions, tailored to the operational realities of their diverse geographies.
• Sustaining our commitment to certification third-party programs across timberland and farmland.
• Publishing this inaugural Nuveen Natural Capital sustainability report, which combines timberland and farmland for the first time.