THE UNITE GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024 107 DAME SHIRLEY PEARCE CHAIR OF THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE LOCAL COMMUNITIES Our Positive Impact employee sustainability engagement programme (aligned with the National Union of Students Green Impact programme) saw an increase in employee volunteering and community projects, which has continued to help drive employee engagement. OUR PEOPLE The Committee was supportive of increased efforts to embed sustainability across the business, including a review of learning and training frameworks to support wider awareness and knowledge of sustainability. During 2024, members of the Committee joined senior leaders from across the business for an interactive session on sustainability, focusing on climate change and risk, which also highlighted the Committee’s commitment to sustainability. The Committee received regular employee engagement updates from the senior leadership team and Ilaria del Beato, the Designated Non-Executive Director for Workforce Engagement during 2024. Our Culture Matters forum continued to evolve and welcomed additional Non-Executive Director attendance during the year. The Committee also heard directly from a Culture Matters representative, providing feedback to assist the Sustainability Committee in its continued monitoring of Culture Matters and the Group’s DEIB strategy, We are US. The Committee oversaw the roll out of the Executive Sponsorship programme in late 2024, providing support and mentoring to our five employee Network Groups. THE ENVIRONMENT The Sustainability Committee continues to provide oversight of our Net Zero Carbon Pathway and track progress using reporting metrics covering the key activities for delivery of our framework. With input from the Sustainability Committee, the business continues to build on work done as an early adopter of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations to improve our management of climate-related risk. We maintained a four-star Global ESG Benchmark for Real Assets (GRESB) rating and while the GRESB rating was just below the Threshold target set for the financial year, positive progress was made in a number of areas. Throughout 2024, the Committee monitored progress of the Sustainable Construction Framework following implementation in 2023. This framework has been key to the good progress made to embed our sustainable aspirations across our construction and the resulting reductions in new-build embodied carbon achieved. Progress was also made in respect of embodied carbon targets and operational energy performance. The Sustainability Committee also received regular updates following the launch of our sustainable procurement framework in 2023. The Committee continues to oversee the impact of our supply chain on sustainability objectives. During 2024, the Committee also had oversight of investment into energy efficiency projects and continues to review the investment required to meet our energy intensity targets. PRIORITIES FOR 2025 The Sustainability Committee will continue to oversee focused engagement with employees and customers to empower and encourage each to play their part in adopting sustainable behaviours. The Committee will also continue to oversee investment into energy efficiency projects during 2025 and continue to monitor the decarbonisation and climate resilience of our business to ensure our plans remain credible and meet stakeholder expectations, while protecting the business from material financial risks. Developments relating to net zero carbon and climate-related risks will be monitored to ensure the Group’s net zero carbon ambition evolves to remains in line with emerging expectations, guidance and regulation in this area. The Committee will maintain oversight of our ongoing commitment to invest 1% of annual adjusted earnings into social initiatives. Dame Shirley Pearce Chair – Sustainability Committee 25 February 2025