Media Contacts: Andrea Ranger, aranger@greencentury.com, 781-349-2813; Mark Morgenstein, Media Relations Director, mmorgenstein@greencentury.com, 678-427-1671
Boston, May 26, 2022 – Nearly a year and a half after Green Century° joined with Boston Common Asset Management to co-file a shareholder proposal urging Booking Holdings, Inc. to report on its plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the company has more than followed through. Booking Holdings announced a new plan in March to adopt greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets with the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an organization working with more than 3,000 corporations to align with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.
When the proposal was first submitted, Booking Holdings, which is the parent company of the travel sites Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, and Rentalcars.com, had no publicly stated goals regarding reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the efficiency of its operations or using renewable energy. Along with its newly announced emissions reduction ambitions, Booking Holdings also announced that it had upped its sourcing of renewable energy, which had only covered 29% of its office electricity consumption in 2020, to 100% of its entire operations by the end of 2021, reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 92%.
“Frankly, I’m impressed. Booking Holdings went from having virtually no sustainability ambitions to committing to significant action fairly quickly, especially considering the pandemic,” Green Century President Leslie Samuelrich said. “We believe the SBTi standard that Booking Holdings is signing up for to be the gold standard for credible corporate emissions reduction goals.”
2020 proposal spurred sustainability efforts
Booking Holdings’ emissions commitment is just its latest environmentally conscious action. In November, the company rolled out a new rating system, called the Travel Sustainable badge, to recognize the best sustainability practices of its accommodation partners in five key areas: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. The company notes on its website that third-party experts verify the lodging businesses’ sustainability claims.
“The tourism industry generates approximately 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is unsustainable,” said Andrea Ranger, shareholder advocate with Green Century. “I believe Booking Holdings recognizes this and sees an opportunity to influence its more than two million accommodation partners by enrolling them in its Travel Sustainable initiative. Booking Holdings’ commitments will help us all tread a little more lightly on the planet.”
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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, Booking Holdings, Inc. comprised 0.00%, 0.47%, 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 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 Boston Common Asset Management.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 5/22