Methodology Change | Solactive Climate Change and Environmental Opportunities Index | Effective Date 09/07/2025

Today, on the 08/07/2025, Solactive announces the following changes to the methodology of the following index (the ‘Affected Index’):

Rationale for Methodology Change

The methodology change is related to the change of Data Provider. 

Changes to the Index Guideline

The following Methodology changes will be implemented in the following points of the Index Guideline (ordered in accordance with the numbering of the affected sections):

2.2. SELECTION OF THE INDEX COMPONENTS

Old text:

[…]

(a full description of each sector can be found on the website of the Data Provider: http://iclima.earth/).

Each company in the Index Universe is classified into one of up to 28 subsegments defined according to products and services that enable at least one of four sources of CO2 avoidance.

The entire methodology the Data Provider uses to quantify CO2 avoidance can be found here: http://iclima.earth/outline-of-the-methodology-clima-has-developed-to-estimate-co2-avoidance-potential-that-we-see-as-key-proxy-for-climate-change-impact-assessment/. The four sources of CO2 avoidance are:

1. direct reduction of GHG emissions from fossil fuel energy generation or burning;
2. enabling avoidance via renewable energy generation;
3. enabling of energy savings; or
4. carbon sequestration.

The subsegments were identified with reference to, among others, the 100 solutions that can decarbonise the planet as defined by Project Drawdown, in triangulation with the EU Taxonomy recommendations by the Technical Expert Group (TEG). A link to the EU Taxonomy can be found here: https://www.unpri.org/policy/eu-sustainable-finance-taxonomy.

[…]

If there are multiple eligible companies within a product or service subsegment that provide substantially identical exposure to the same enabling solution (taking into account considerations including geographical exposure, customer base, product lines, technology and regulatory environment) then only the largest company, according to green revenues, within the subsegment will be selected.

Companies in the Index Universe are also subject to a negative screening test where rules define activities that companies in the index cannot be exposed to. The screening is performed by the Data Provider: [1]:

1. 1. Armament:
      1. Companies that directly manufacture and sell any type of armament are excluded.
      2. Companies generating revenues from the sale of components are excluded if they derive 5% or more of their revenue from components that are used for conventional weapons or more than 0% of their revenue from components used in controversial weapons (nuclear weapons or systems, chemical or biological weapons, landmines, cluster bombs, or depleted uranium weapons).
   2. Nuclear Energy:
      1. Companies deriving revenues from generation of nuclear power are excluded.
   3. Oil
      1. Companies with assets in oil exploration and processing activities are excluded. This encompasses companies that lease land with oil & gas reserves to be explored by third party E&P players.
      2. Companies generating revenues from the distribution of petrol-based products are excluded.
   4. Coal:
      1. Companies generating revenue from the exploration or processing of coal are excluded. Companies that use coal to produce energy or heat for their own consumption or production purposes are also excluded (i.e. the coal exclusion extends beyond the use of coal to generate energy for sale to third parties).
   5. Natural Gas:
      1. Companies generating revenues from the generation or distribution of natural gas are excluded.
      2. To clarify, direct-to-retail marketing/sale of electricity is not an excluded activity under i.
   6. Fossil Fuel
      1. Exclusion of companies generating more than 20% of their revenues from sales to clients that enable fossil fuel E&P, processing activities, or use. A concession is granted to solutions that are designed to reduce carbon intensity, e.g. smart meters and fuel cells as well as monitoring and control devices, as well as equipment that runs on gas. Therefore, the filter is not generally applied for companies classified in the following sub-segments:
         1. Pollution Control,
         2. Alternative Fuels & Fuel Cells,
         3. Energy Efficiency,
         4. Energy Storage,
         5. Measurement Instruments
      2. For the electric vehicle subsegment, companies are excluded that generate more than 40% of their revenue from the sale of automotives with internal combustion engines that run on fossil fuel.
   7. Additional screens:
      1. The selection is based on products and services that can decarbonise the planet. As such, companies that produce alcohol, adult entertainment, gambling, and/or tobacco are excluded.
   8. Minimum Total Market Capitalization of USD 200 million and revenue generating. In addition, companies with three consecutive fiscal years of negative revenue growth are also excluded. The screening is performed by the Data Provider.
   9. In case of multiple share lines, only keep the most liquid listing, calculated as the minimum Average Daily Value Traded over the past 1 and 6 months until and including the Selection Day.
   10. All remaining securities are ranked by Free-Float Market Capitalization. To clarify, the security with the largest Free Float Market Capitalization receives the highest rank.
   11. The top 80 securities with the highest rank are selected as Index Components.
   12. Current Index Components with ranks from 81 to 120 are selected by rank until the target Index Component count of 100 is reached.
   13. If there are less than 100 Index Components after step 8, securities currently not included in the Index are selected until the target Index Component count of 100 is reached

If less than 100 securities pass the selection criteria described above, all such securities will be selected resulting in less than 100 Index Components.

Companies for which an evaluation of the steps listed above is not feasible due to missing and/or insufficient data are removed from the selection.

(the “Index Component Requirements“)

The selection of the Index Components is fully rule-based and the Index Administrator cannot make any discretionary decision.

Screening is generally based on the company’s consolidated financial statements reported under relevant accounting standards. Minority holdings (less than 50% ownership) not consolidated are generally not considered for screening purposes.

New text: 

[…]

These are then broken down into 28 subsegments which were identified with reference to, among others, the 100 solutions that can decarbonise the planet as defined by Project Drawdown as well as the EU Taxonomy recommendations by the Technical Expert Group (TEG). A link to the EU Taxonomy can be found here: https://www.unpri.org/policy/eu-sustainable-finance-taxonomy.

Each company in the Index Universe is classified into one of up to 28 subsegments defined according to products and services that enable at least one of four sources of CO2 avoidance.

The four sources of CO2 avoidance are:

1. direct reduction of GHG emissions from fossil fuel energy generation or burning;
2. enabling avoidance via renewable energy generation;
3. enabling of energy savings; or
4. carbon sequestration.

The full methodology the Data Provider uses to assess CO2 avoidance can be found here: https://www.manifest.co.uk/climate-index-solution-the-iclima-mitigation-strategy/

Companies in the Index Universe are also subject to a negative screening test where rules define activities that companies in the index cannot be exposed to. The screening is performed by the Data Provider: [1]:

1. 1. Controversial Weapons:
2. Companies involved in the production development or maintenance of Anti-personnel mines, Biological or Chemical weapons, Cluster munitions, Depleted uranium, Nuclear weapons, or any other weapon that violate humanitarian principles through normal use;
3. Companies that produce or develop key and dedicated components for controversial weapons;

• Companies that hold ≥20% stake in a company that is involved in controversial weapons;

1. Companies currently ≥ 50% owned by a company that is involved in controversial weapons.
   1. Nuclear Energy:
      1. >0% revenues from the generation of electricity by means of nuclear power;
   2. Conventional Weapons:
      1. Companies involved in the production and/or maintenance of conventional weapons or military products designed for lethal use;
      2. Companies that hold a ≥20% stake in a company that is involved in conventional weapons;

• Companies currently ≥50% owned by a company that is involved in conventional weapons

1. Small Arms:
   1. Companies involved in the production of small arms (including ammunition) and their components, whether publicly or privately owned;
   2. Companies deriving revenue from the sale of small arms including ammunition.
2. Adult Entertainment:
   1. >0% revenue from production of adult entertainment;
   2. >5% revenues from the distribution of adult entertainment.
3. Tobacco:
   1. >0% revenues from production/manufacturing of primary tobacco, tobacco products, and nicotine alternatives;
   2. >5% revenue from the distribution and/or sale of primary tobacco, tobacco products and nicotine alternatives.
4. Gambling:
   1. >0% revenues from owning or operating gambling establishments;
   2. >5% revenues from providing supporting products/services to gambling operations;

• >0% revenues from manufacturing specialized equipment used exclusively for gambling.

1. Alcohol:
   1. >0% revenues from the production of alcoholic beverages including ingredients solely used in alcoholic beverages;
   2. >5% revenues from the distribution of alcoholic beverages or alcoholic related services.
2. Thermal Coal:
   1. >0% revenues from the exploration & production (mining and extraction) of thermal coal;
   2. >0% revenues from the refining of thermal coal;

• >0% revenues from the marketing (wholesale & distribution) of thermal coal.

1. Conventional & Unconventional Gas:
   1. >0% revenues from the exploration and production of conventional and unconventional gas;
   2. Companies building or operating pipelines that significantly facilitate export of conventional oil and gas.

• >0% revenues from the wholesale of conventional and unconventional gas;

1. Conventional & Unconventional Oil:
   1. >0% revenues from the exploration and production of conventional and unconventional oil;
   2. >0% revenues from the refining of conventional and unconventional oil;

• Companies building or operating pipelines that significantly facilitate export of conventional oil and gas;

1. >0% revenues from the marketing (wholesale & distribution) of conventional and unconventional oil, and petroleum-based fuels;
2. >0% revenues from the manufacturing of fossil-based synthetic polymers used as commodity plastics, including polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), expanded polystyrene (EPS), and polyurethane (PU) foams.

1. Electricity Generation:
   1. >0% revenues from the generation of electricity by means of fossil fuels;
   2. >5% revenue from the wholesale distribution of electricity generated by means of fossil fuels.
2. Electricity Consumption:
   1. Companies that use coal to produce energy or heat for their own consumption or production purposes are excluded.
3. Fossil Fuel Association
   1. Companies deriving >20% revenues from sales to clients that enable fossil fuel Exploration & Processing, distribution or energy production by means of fossil fuels are excluded. Technologies intended for monitoring and control purposes and transitional applications, e.g. flexible fuel cells and pollution control solutions are exempt;
   2. Companies deriving >40% revenues from sales of automotive ICEs run solely on fossil fuel are excluded;

• >0% revenues from land leased for oil & gas exploration to third-party E&P companies are excluded.

2. Minimum Total Market Capitalization of USD 200 million and revenue generating. In addition, companies with three consecutive fiscal years of negative revenue growth are also excluded.
3. In case of multiple share lines, only keep the most liquid listing, calculated as the minimum Average Daily Value Traded over the past 1 and 6 months until and including the Selection Day.
4. All remaining securities are ranked by Free-Float Market Capitalization. To clarify, the security with the largest Free Float Market Capitalization receives the highest rank.
5. The top 80 securities with the highest rank are selected as Index Components.
6. Current Index Components with ranks from 81 to 120 are selected by rank until the target Index Component count of 100 is reached.
7. If there are less than 100 Index Components after step 8, securities currently not included in the Index are selected until the target Index Component count of 100 is reached

If less than 100 securities pass the selection criteria described above, all such securities will be selected resulting in less than 100 Index Components.

Companies for which an evaluation of the steps listed above is not feasible due to missing and/or insufficient data are removed from the selection.

(the “Index Component Requirements“)

The selection of the Index Components is fully rule-based and the Index Administrator cannot make any discretionary decision.

Screening is generally based on the company’s consolidated financial statements reported under relevant accounting standards. Minority holdings (less than 50% ownership) not consolidated are generally not considered for screening purposes.

6. DEFINITIONS:

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“Data Provider” is iClima Earth Ltd. For more information, please visit: http://iclima.earth/.

New text:

“Data Provider” is Minerva Analytics. For more information, please visit: Home – Minerva-Manifest.

Defined terms used in this announcement, but not defined herein, have the meaning assigned to them in the respective index guideline of the Affected Indices. The amended version of the index guideline will be available on the effective date.