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Leader in Women’s Healthcare, Hologic Inc.,* Agrees to Adopt Goals for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Contact: Kate Kroll, Green Century Capital Management, kkroll@greencentury.com, 617-482-0800

January 26, 2016: In response to a shareholder proposal filed by the Green Century Balanced Fund (Green Century) and Trillium Asset Management (Trillium), Hologic, Inc.,* a manufacturer and supplier of diagnostic and medical imaging systems related to women’s health, has agreed to adopt quantitative, time-bound goals for reducing total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Hologic products and operations by September 2016.

Climate change, caused by excess GHG emissions, is a significant risk facing companies and long-term shareholder value. Based on a 2015 report by Citigroup,* the costs of failing to address climate change could lead to a loss to global GDP of up to 72 trillion dollars by 2060. Accordingly, investors are paying closer attention to how companies manage their contributions to climate change. That’s why Green Century joined Trillium to press Hologic to set GHG reduction targets. “The Paris climate agreement sent a clear message to the business community: change is coming and companies need to adapt. Setting goals to reduce carbon pollution is critical for companies in this new landscape,” said President Leslie Samuelrich for Green Century Capital Management, the environmentally responsible investment advisory firm that manages fossil fuel free mutual funds.

The move by Hologic comes at a time when more companies are listening to investors and a growing number of companies are adopting GHG reduction targets to decrease their impacts on climate change and to capture efficiency savings and investment opportunities associated with reductions in energy use. As of 2013, 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies have set clean energy and GHG reduction targets. “Business leaders are increasingly recognizing climate change as an economically disruptive force that contributes to higher commodity costs, broken supply chains, and increased financial risks,” said Kate Kroll, Shareholder Advocate at Green Century. “Addressing these risks by setting GHG emission targets is widespread and necessary to keep pace with competitors.”

Hologic’s commitment puts the company in step with its industry peers, such as Baxter,* Becton Dickinson,* and GE,* all of which have identified relevant environmental, social, and governance factors and address them through sustainability reports and metrics. Moreover, it enables investors to evaluate the company’s exposure to possible risks associated with its climate impacts and assess how strategically the company is making trade-offs between these climate risks and climate opportunities.

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Green Century Capital Management is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds and offers two environmentally and socially responsible funds, the Green Century Equity Fund and the Green Century Balanced Fund. Green Century works to curb climate change through fossil fuel free investing, reinvestment in sustainable companies, and advocating with companies to improve their environmental policies and supply chains. Green Century also is the only U.S. mutual fund company owned by environmental non-profits, the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs).

*As of December 31, 2015, Hologic, Inc., Citigroup, Inc., Baxter International, Inc., and Becton Dickinson and Company comprised 0.93% and 0.13%, 0.28% and 0.00%, 0.28% and 0.00%, and 0.00% and 0.43% of the Green Century Balanced Fund and the Green Century Equity Fund, respectively. Other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of the Green Century Funds as of December 31, 2015. 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.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation. The Funds’ environmental criteria limit the investments available to the Funds compared to mutual funds that do not use environmental criteria. 

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 click here, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-93-GREEN. Please read the Prospectus before investing. 

This information has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable. The views expressed are as of the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Green Century Funds.

The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 1/16

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