Starting in 2021, our Governance Committee Charter was amended to assign the Governance Committee oversight of the Company's ESG disclosures, including any ESG report that is published. Sustainability is incorporated into UDR's overall risk assessments, and the Board provides risk oversight. Continued discussions of ESG during Board meetings have focused on how we can further integrate human capital into our overall business and updates on our Sustainability Strategy (addressed on pages 19-20), including progress towards our science-based emissions reduction targets and mitigation of climate-related risk. These discussions continue to evolve as we seek to enhance our commitment to ESG and further align the Company's sustainability objectives with those of our stakeholders. [...] UDR's ESG Committee, made up of senior officers at the Company, sets Company-wide ESG targets, goals, and strategy in conjunction with the Board. Chairman and CEO, Tom Toomey, steers the Committee which approves the ESG strategy, while other members are responsible for implementing and monitoring progress towards meeting ESG targets and goals, evaluating the integrity of the Company's overall ESG reporting processes, and assessing the vision of our sustainability objectives. As part of our EMS process, we conduct third-party and internal assurance testing of the accuracy and completeness of significant ESG metrics. These include GHG emissions, energy usage, water usage, waste diversion, associate compensation, diversity, training, and gender metrics included in this report and our 2024 GRESB survey. As the ESG reporting landscape changes due to expanding regulatory requirements and shifting stakeholder interests, so will the evolution of our ESG control environment."
"UDR has established energy, emissions, water, waste, and renewable energy targets as well as internal controls and reporting processes to measure and report on our progress against those targets to the ESG Committee and the Board of Directors.