In the 2025-2026 shareholder advocacy season, Green Century° won 16 agreements and met with 85 companies. As Green Century celebrates its 35th anniversary, our advocacy program highlights our environmental impacts that help drive the change corporations need to make to protect our land, air and water.
10: Reducing Single-use Plastics: As a result of a Green Century engagement, US Foods, one of the largest food distributors in the U.S., agreed to disclose information on the sustainability of its packaging and specifically how much polystyrene, or Styrofoam, the company uses and to also detail the steps the company will take to minimize its use. Along with human health risks, Styrofoam harms ecosystems in the environment, where it can end up as litter and be ingested by wildlife, and continues to exist for thousands of years before breaking down.
9: Safeguarding Biodiversity Hotspots: Green Century helped to protect the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. Chemical giant Chemours agreed to strengthen its biodiversity protocols to protect the water, air and land near its mining operations in response to a shareholder proposal from Green Century and the Felician Sisters of North America. Most of Chemours’ mining operations are in a global biodiversity hotspot that includes this wildlife refuge, which stands as the continent’s largest blackwater wetland ecosystem and is home to black bears and alligators.
8: Insuring a Fossil Fuel Free Future: Chubb, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, has agreed to disclose how it influences governmental climate policies. In its upcoming sustainability report, the company will, for the first time, include examples of its engagement with government regulators and industry leaders, helping to shine a spotlight on its climate lobbying activities. As global insured losses from climate-driven disasters reached an all-time high of $108 billion in 2025, insurance companies continue to finance and lobby the fossil fuel infrastructure that causes these disasters.
7: Reducing Plastic Pollution: Green Century pressed Mattel, which owns Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher Price brands, to provide more information on how it protects children from the toxic chemicals in its plastic toys and packaging. Several months after Green Century raised these risks directly to management, the company disclosed that it had increased the number of substances it monitors, limits, or does not allow from 3,000 to 15,000.
6: Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: Following a Green Century shareholder proposal, McDonald’s agreed to share additional information about its regenerative agriculture program and detail the specific positive outcomes for nature that these programs accomplish. Regenerative agriculture is a broad and increasingly prominent practice among global food companies that seek to improve the impact of their operations on the ecosystem and enhance the sustainability of the food system.
5: Expanding the Right to Repair: After negotiations with Green Century, Whirlpool, one of the largest home appliance companies in the world, agreed to make it easier for consumers to access repair manuals. This will allow users to fix their own appliances and have repairs done by independent repair shops. Ultimately, these resources may also save consumers money and time, and reduce electronic waste, which currently ranks as one of the fastest-growing solid waste streams in the world.
4: Safeguarding Biodiversity: PepsiCo, the global food and beverage company, agreed to publicly describe its process for identifying and reducing its impacts on nature and biodiversity in the company’s operations and sourcing. The move came after Green Century and other investors engaged with company executives for several months. The company’s vast global footprint, which includes millions of acres of land and billions of gallons of water, has had a significant impact on nature, and these disclosures will make those impacts more visible.
3: Powering a Healthy Climate: Columbia Sportswear committed to expanding solar power and boosting energy efficiency across more than 1 million square feet of its Oregon facilities. It will report annually on its progress to cut climate pollution and transition to clean energy over the next decade. As part of Columbia’s agreement with Green Century, the clothing and outdoor gear company will tackle the emissions from its largest owned distribution center, its global headquarters, and all its owned and operated Oregon locations.
2: Reducing Plastic Packaging Waste: Green Century convinced the country’s largest beauty retailer, Ulta Beauty, to disclose the plastic footprint of its own brand packaging and set a new sustainable packaging goal. The retailer currently produces approximately 120 billion packaging units each year, and the bulk of this is plastic waste.
1: Financing a Sustainable Future: Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the United States, released new forest protection standards for its clients around the world after two years of dialogue and a shareholder proposal from Green Century. These new standards require clients in the beef, soy, palm oil and forestry sectors to have or be pursuing deforestation-free operations and supply chains. Together, beef, soy, palm oil and wood products are responsible for nearly 75% of global deforestation. Green Century has also engaged with other large banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, to similarly strengthen their forest protection standards.