STATEMENT: Green Century Reacts to Vote at UPS* on Climate Shareholder Proposal
Media Contacts: Andrea Ranger, aranger@greencentury.com, 781-349-2813; Mark Morgenstein, Media Relations Director, mmorgenstein@greencentury.com, 678-427-1671
Boston, June 1, 2022 – After its annual shareholder meeting May 5th, the United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) tallied votes for a shareholder proposal filed by Green Century°, Trillium Asset Management and Zevin Asset Management asking it to adopt an independently-verified science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction target in order to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Twenty-eight percent of the votes cast were in favor of the resolution.
In response, Green Century President, Leslie Samuelrich and Green Century Advocate Andrea Ranger released the following statements:
“While the vote wasn’t as high as we had hoped, the proposal nevertheless signals that shareholders are concerned about climate in general and setting robust targets for UPS to help mitigate climate change,” said Samuelrich. “In our view, UPS should adopt science-based emissions reduction targets sooner rather than later, regardless of the outcome of the vote. As shareholders and people who see the ubiquitous brown trucks in our neighborhoods, we have higher expectations of UPS. Climate experts are telling us we need to cut global emissions by 45% by 2030 and to emit net-zero carbon dioxide by 2050. Every country, institution and company, including UPS, has to get on board.”
“Our proposal should make it clear to the UPS board and management that it can take the company’s carbon neutral goal a step further. We believe it should include UPS’ full value chain of emissions and incorporate globally recognized benchmarks such as the Science Based Targets initiative,” said Ranger. “We’re committed to working with UPS on this extremely important issue.”
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About Green Century Capital Management
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (the Funds). The Green Century Funds are a family of fossil fuel free, environmentally responsible, and diversified mutual funds in the United States. Green Century Capital Management 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 March 31, 2022, the United Parcel Service, Inc. comprised 0.72%, 0.77%, 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.
The percentage in favor was calculated by (i) dividing the number of votes in support of the proposal by (ii) the sum of the number of votes voted in support of and against the proposal. Abstentions and broker non-votes were not included in the calculation.
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 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. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.
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. UMB Distribution Services, LLC. is not affiliated with Trillium Asset Management and Zevin Asset Management.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 6/22
