Boston, May 28, 2025 – A shareholder proposal co-filed by Green Century Capital Management called on Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, to conduct a full assessment of its impact on nature and on the risks the company faces from the increasing instability of the natural environment. Company shareholders voted on the proposal at the company’s annual meeting Thursday. The proposal received 17% of votes cast, more than a similar proposal received at the company’s 2024 stockholder meeting.
“Home Depot sells lumber, paints, and herbicides, all of which adversely impact the environment, during either production or use,” said Leslie Samuelrich, president of Green Century. “The company has a responsibility to shareholders and the planet to account for how its business affects nature.”
Investors concerned about the health of the natural world
Climate change, pollution and overexploitation of natural resources are stressing the planet. In this context, investors have begun asking companies to fully disclose how their operations, sourcing and sales impact the environment. More than 350 companies have committed to providing a comprehensive accounting of these actions under the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure. The proposal co-filed by Green Century asks Home Depot to provide a similar assessment. The initiative was led by Domini Impact Investments and was also supported by Proxy Impact on behalf of the Great Oaks Fund.
University of British Columbia Prof Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, presented the proposal at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. In her remarks, Simard, a professor of forest ecology, described the important role of forests in mitigating climate change and how industrial logging degrades the health of forests. Home Depot sources approximately 17% of its lumber from the pristine Canadian boreal forests. Studies have documented severe long-term damage from forestry practices in the boreal and how the increasing rate and severity of wildfires have hampered the forest’s ability to recover and regrow.
“Home Depot needs to do a better job of taking care of the home we all share: Earth,” said Andrew Shalit, shareholder advocate at Green Century. “No one’s going to build a new deck when a wildfire’s burning in the back yard.”
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