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Making an impact with Unilever

Leslie with Unilever CEO Paul Polman

Left: Green Century’s President, Leslie Samuelrich, with Unilever CEO Paul Polman.

Is it possible for a company to grow sale and profit while reducing its environmental impact? Unilever,* one of the environmental leaders held in the portfolio of the Green Century MSCI International Index Fund, thinks so, and the company has a plan to make it happen.

Unilever’s plan – the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan – has three big goals:

  • Help more than a billion people improve their health and wellbeing
  • Halve the environmental footprint of the company’s products
  • And sustainably source 100% of agricultural raw materials

Unilever’s goals are ambitious, but the company has already made significant progress.

Unilever hit its 2020 goal for reducing greenhouse gas pollution 4 years early, reducing emissions 43% over 2008, which puts the company on track to be carbon positive by 2030.

The company has developed a set of guidelines for farmers sourcing materials, and made them available to other companies. Australia’s entire dairy industry now complies with Unilever’s sustainability standards.

In 2013, Unilever announced its ground-breaking zero deforestation policy that helped start the transformation of the palm oil supply chain.

Unilever is also bringing together other stakeholders to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy. The company founded the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm and the Roundtable on Sustainable Soy, and was recently named one of the most influential companies in advocating for improved policies on climate change.

Unilever is just one of the environmental leaders in the International Index Fund. To see the complete list of holdings in the International Index Fund, learn more about our investment strategy, and see the International Index Fund’s first year performance, please please visit our website or call 1-800-934-7336.

Sincerely,

Leslie Samuelrich
President
Green Century Capital Management

*As of September 30, 2017, Unilever NV and Unilever PLC comprised 0.00%, 0.00% and 2.65%; and 0.00%, 0.00% and 2.23% of the Green Century Balanced Fund, Green Century Equity Fund, and Green Century MSCI International Index Fund, respectively. References to specific securities, which will change due to the ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.

You should carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds, please visit click here, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing. 

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation. The Funds’ environmental criteria limit the investments available to the Funds compared to mutual funds that do not use environmental criteria. 

This information has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable. The views expressed are as of the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 11/17

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