As noted above, responsibility for analyzing and managing investment risks in individual client portfolios, including climate-related risks and opportunities, rests with the portfolio manager, in coordination with ESG Research and Product Management, and with oversight by functional line management.
Climate change considerations are embedded in our environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) integration process. Our ESG Research team, part of the central Investment Research function, works closely with investment teams to incorporate its research into the investment process -- regularly conducting in-depth portfolio reviews to evaluate ESG risks, including climate-related risks, and strengths of particular holdings. With support from the ESG Research team, each of our portfolio managers develops their own investment approach whereby ESG considerations are integrated into their research and decision-making processes to the extent that they believe these issues may affect the long-term success of a company and potential investment returns. ESG integration can manifest itself within the investment thesis or portfolio weighting for a particular security, as well as within our proxy voting and company engagement efforts.
Engaging with portfolio companies on the impact of a changing climate to their business and strategy is a key input to the process, and climate risk is among our top three engagement priorities in 2018. We believe that engaging with the companies we invest in plays a critical role in helping to identify, understand, and appropriately consider ESG risks such as climate change. As part of this process, our firm speaks with companies to gauge their exposure to climate-related events, assess management's awareness of this topic, evaluate their risk-management approach, and encourage adoption of best practices. Sample engagement questions include: How does the board evaluate risks associated with climate change? Are there individuals at the company who are specifically responsible for addressing issues associated with climate change? What is the company doing to mitigate its own GHG emissions? Are there reduction targets and, if so, how did the company arrive at them? How does the company consider climate-related opportunities such as product development and innovation? Does the company conduct regular scenario analyses to understand the risks that climate change poses to the business?
In addition to engagement, proxy voting can be a powerful tool for managing climate-related risks, providing leverage in company management discussions and also the opportunity to directly influence corporate policy.
In December 2017, we signed the Statement of Support for the TCFD recommendations. Through engagement and proxy voting, we are encouraging our portfolio companies to adopt the framework and improve disclosures so that we can make more informed investment decisions on behalf of our clients.
As we continue to conduct research and develop tools to analyze climate-related risks for our client portfolios, insights gained can also be used to inform our operational risk management processes. Wellington Management has developed a comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery program (Business Continuity Program, or "BCP"), which consists of various elements that represent the processes for planning for and responding to significant business disruptions. The BCP is designed to enable Wellington Management to meet its obligations to provide investment management services to its clients in the event of a significant business disruption. The Business Continuity Planning Group is responsible for the ongoing management of the BCP, including coordinating tests of business continuity plans, assessing the effectiveness of the Program, providing training, and supporting the incident management process. The group is responsible for designing and coordinating the elements of its respective business continuity plans under the direction of the Business Unit management teams and delegates.
We recognize that in certain locales in which we operate there is the potential for business disruption due to events associated with climate change. For example, in Boston the increasing frequency of ocean-based storms coupled with rising sea levels will continue to be a threat to our region. To mitigate the risk of disruption to our business, Wellington partnered with Boston Properties, our landlord, to undertake a study to ascertain the likelihood of flooding in our specific location and to develop a flood management program for the property. As a result of this study, we agreed to fund the purchase of an Aqua Fence. The Aqua Fence provides a portable four foot buffer around the property which is meant to protect vulnerable electrical infrastructure and contingency fuel supplies in the underground parking structure. In Tokyo, where we face disruption due to earthquakes, we chose to relocate to a new property (with the latest structural design) on a low floor that was adjacent to green space so that in the event of an earthquake our colleagues have a short evacuation route that leads them to open space.
As another example of how we manage risks associated with power supply disruption due to severe storms, our data centers in Windsor, Connecticut and Marlborough, Massachusetts are supported by generators and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices that are tested on a regular basis. In the Boston offices, both the equity and fixed income trading floors at 280 Congress Street are covered by UPS devices and generators. Additional investment functions at 280 Congress Street are also covered by a generator. The Marlborough BCP alternate site is generator- and UPS-backed. Every Wellington Management office has UPS power to support critical equipment and most have generator power to support a prolonged outage.
Finally, Wellington seeks in all major markets to lease space from highly established landlords (e.g. Boston Properties, Land Securities, Mitsubishi Estates) who demonstrate a commitment to minimizing greenhouse gas emissions through highly sustainable construction and building operations practices resulting in LEED certification, or the like, as well as a commitment to support renewable energy. From a tenant improvement perspective, Wellington routinely builds its spaces with a goal to achieve a LEED Gold rating; in the U.S., where we have power purchase agreements, we include renewable energy credits as part of our commitment.