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 Funds. “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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About Green Century
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (The Funds). The Green Century Funds are one of the first families of fossil fuel-free, environmentally responsible mutual funds. Green Century hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.
*As of 3.28.25, Home Depot comprised 0.97%, 1.51%, and 0.00%, of the Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the Green Century Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to 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 Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please visit www.greencentury.com, 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 a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by Distribution Services, LLC. 5/2025
The Green Century Funds are distributed by Distribution Services, LLC. Distribution Services and Green Century are unaffiliated.