In 2024, Green Century held companies accountable and helped make change by convincing companies to share plastics use, disclose both direct and indirect carbon emissions and other environmental advances in the shareholder advocacy season. Here is a look at some of the Top 10 Highlights of our big year:
1. Big Box Plastics: Costco, the world’s third-largest retailer, agreed to make visible its plastic footprint for its signature Kirkland Brand products and unveiled a five-year action plan to reduce plastic packaging by year’s end.
2.Reducing Plastic Use: After our shareholder engagements, global entertainment giant Disney and toymakers Hasbro and Mattel, hotels Marriott, Hilton, and Choice Hotels, and other companies agreed to disclose their plastic footprints and/or set goals to cut plastic use.
3. Protecting Nature: Green Century’s team filed a resolution at PepsiCo urging the snack and beverage behemoth to address protecting nature and habitats. This was the first time shareholders of a publicly traded company voted on a proposal requesting a comprehensive biodiversity report.
4. Safeguarding an Environmental Treasure: Green Century continued its multi-year effort to protect the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia from the threat of a proposed mine for titanium, a widely used pigment in paint, sunscreens and other products. The 438,000-acre refuge is a vital habitat for threatened and endangered species. Our shareholder resolutions at The Chemours Company, Sherwin-Williams and Home Depot helped raise awareness and galvanize environmental leaders to protect this special place.
5. Protecting Clean Air: Lowe’s, the world’s second-largest home improvement retailer, will share details on the planet-warming emissions from the products it sells in response to a shareholder proposal from Green Century. This kind of disclosure is a key first step in cutting pollution from items such as lawncare equipment, which are often among the biggest polluters for retailers.
6. Curbing Emissions: While IBM has a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030, the iconic computer giant was not setting rigorous science-based targets to reduce all of its climate pollution. Green Century’s proposal asking IBM to set comprehensive climate emissions targets won a whopping 31 percent of the votes at its annual meeting.
7. Right to Repair: In a big win for the environment, Green Century worked with Microsoft Corp. to extend the lifespan of its computers. In response to a proposal from Green Century, Microsoft announced it would extend Windows 10 security updates for organizations of all sizes, including schools, hospitals, and individuals. This move could prevent up to 400 million computers from becoming electronic waste in the coming years.
8. Preserving Tropical Forests: Global agribusiness giant Bunge sources soy from South American tropical ecosystems such as the biodiverse Amazon and neighboring Cerrado savanna where jaguars, giant otters and other rare animals live. These are the last places we should be clearing forests for food. After negotiations with Green Century, Bunge agreed to strengthen protections for these special places.
9. Climate Transition Plans: One of the world’s largest fossil fuel insurers in the world, had set an ambitious target to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its business. After engagement with Green Century, this company agreed to publish a road map, or climate transition plan, explaining how it will achieve its emissions reduction goals.
10. Insurance Wins: Green Century pushed Chubb to phase out insurance for new fossil fuel supplies. The company, which is the largest publicly traded commercial property and casualty insurer in the world and a major insurer of oil drilling off the coast of Brazil, announced in 2023 it would no longer write policies for new extraction or pipelines in conservation areas. The proposal, which received a 28% vote, asked Chubb to measure and disclose emissions associated with its underwriting, insurance, and investment-related activities. Secondly, Green Century filed a resolution, which received 38 percent of the vote, met with insurer Markel to measure and disclose emissions associated with its underwriting, insurance, and investment-related activities.
