10. Updated Issue Impact Reports
Last year, Green Century secured 11 policy changes from companies across the globe, bringing our five-year total to 93 environmental policies. Our team met with 58 companies, filed shareholder resolutions at 30 companies, the most of any firm for three years running, and voted more than 650 company proxies to support environmental activities. This fall, Green Century already has met with 71 companies. To capture highlights of our shareholder advocacy, Green Century unveiled a suite of eight issue impact reports on an array of topics – saving tropical forests, curbing plastic pollution, promoting clean energy and protecting biodiversity. We invite you to explore and share these reports with your clients.
9. Stopping Plastic Pollution:
Green Century reached an agreement with Starbucks* to ensure it provides accurate information about the recyclability of its plastic cups and shares details about its transition to reusable cups by early 2026. Only widely recycled items should be marketed as recyclable. Sealed Air*, the packaging company that sells BUBBLE WRAP® and air pillows, and packaging company Amcor* also agreed to improve the sustainability of their packaging to ensure their recycling labels do not mislead consumers. Both commitments came after Green Century agreed to withdraw related shareholder proposals.
Photo credit: Paul Summers, Unsplash
8. Protecting the Climate
American International Group *(AIG), a leading global insurer, published a climate transition plan that spells out how it will reduce its carbon emissions and source more renewable energy across its operations, and reduce its climate-related risks across its underwriting and investments. AIG first announced that it would create a plan following discussions on a related Green Century shareholder proposal in 2024. Insurers are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather as erratic temperatures drive more floods, hurricanes and wildfires and claims.
Photo credit: Adobe Stock
7. Promoting Wildlife Crossings
Green Century’s nonprofit partners work toward safer roads for motorists and wildlife by urging the construction of tunnels, bridges and other wildlife corridors to decrease the number of collisions with animals. These organizations increased their efforts this fall during the transition from daylight savings time when collisions with wildlife spike. Environment America supported efforts in California, Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and elsewhere to connect habitats and help migrating and roaming animals avoid fatal accidents on interstates, railroad routes and when wildlife encounters other barriers.
Photo credit: Eric Mclean, Unsplash
6. Championing Renewable Energy
Following three years of urging by Green Century, Verizon* pledged in 2018 to source 50% of its electricity from green, renewable sources by 2025, a significant increase from the 4% that they had originally announced. The company recently exceeded this goal, which has helped it cut 2.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of taking about 500,000 cars off the road each year. Green Century is continuing to push Verizon to share a roadmap for further reducing its emissions in a shareholder resolution filed with the company this fall.
Photo credit: Matteo del Piano, Unsplash
Photo credit: Green Century archives
5. Protecting Hard-Won gains for Brazil’s Tropical Rainforests
Driving change on a global front, Green Century’s Director of Shareholder Advocacy Annie Sanders traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, in November for a conference organized by the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investing. This was an opportunity to build on Green Century’s 12-year track record of winning protections for tropical forests by meeting with other investors concerned about these issues. In the last year, Green Century has organized investors to join negotiations with corporations that produce beef and soybeans in the region and participate in follow-up meetings with Bunge* and Archer-Daniels-Midland* – two of the world’s largest agricultural companies, both with significant operations in Brazil – that made time-bound no-deforestation and no-conversion commitments in their Latin American soy supply chains. These agreements help protect tropical rainforests and savannahs, including the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado, which are home for animals ranging from jaguars to giant otters.
4. Advancing Right to Repair
Green Century’s nonprofit owners in California, Colorado, Connecticut and its support of US PIRG are helping cut the amount of e-waste thrown into dumpsters by raising public awareness and supporting new laws that allow consumers to fix their own laptops, smartphones, tablets and even larger items, such as tractors and wheelchairs. Keeping those items from being tossed into landfills also helps curb the toxins and metals that otherwise leach into our soil and waterways.
Green Century’s nonprofit owners, including MASSPIRG, shared that one third of Americans live in a state with a Right to Repair law – indicating a preference by consumers to fix their electronics instead of adding to the e-waste problem.
Photo credit: Helena Lopes, Unsplash
3. New Sustainable Investing Guide
Green Century held two successful Greening Your Finances webinars with Green America, attracting nearly 1,000 people, for the co-launch of our new Sustainable Investing Guide Investing Without Fossil Fuels. The webinar shared how to support climate action through finances, banking, credit cards and sustainable investing. Watch and share the webinar!
Photo credit: Green Century archives
2. Preserving Indonesia’s Tropical Forests
Deforestation rates in Indonesia have decreased more than 60% in the last 10 years due to government policies and corporate actions. But the forests and the people who depend on them are newly threatened by one of the largest global deforestation projects in the world. During New York Climate Week, Director of Shareholder Advocacy Annie Sanders orchestrated a meeting with Special Climate Envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo, brother of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Former Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake and other global investors to discuss forest protections, as part of our renewed attention to the area.
Photo credit: Conference attendees
- Lower Fees on our updated Balanced Fund
Unveiled on December 1st, Green Century announced exciting updates for retail and institutional investors to the Green Century Balanced Fund (GCBUX/GCBLX) that lowers the expense ratio by 21 basis points, bringing the gross expense ratio to 0.95% for the institutional share class and 1.25 % for the investor share class. The updated Balanced Fund also features increased diversification and active ownership. The updated fund demonstrates Green Century’s leadership in investing sustainably while avoiding fossil fuels and other environmentally harmful companies. Today’s Balanced Fund, an equity and fixed-income hybrid fund, strengthens Green Century’s commitment to helping investors achieve their financial goals while simultaneously supporting a cleaner, greener planet.