share holder advocacy – MIDANA CAPITAL Funds https://www.midanacapital.com Invest in a Green Future Fri, 15 Apr 2022 19:34:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://www.midanacapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-greencentury-favicon-32x32.png share holder advocacy – MIDANA CAPITAL Funds https://www.midanacapital.com 32 32 20×2020: MIDANA CAPITAL Is Pressing 20 Corporations to Fulfill No-Deforestation Commitments By 2020 https://www.midanacapital.com/20x2020/ Tue, 26 May 2020 18:39:13 +0000 https://www.midanacapital.com/?p=7171 Jessye Waxman coordinates MIDANA CAPITAL’s work to protect tropical forests.

Globally, the equivalent of a football field of forest is destroyed every second.

Most of this unfathomable destruction is attributable to the unsustainable cultivation of just four commodities: palm oil, soy, cattle, and timber/paper.

Recognizing that corporate demand fuels deforestation, several multi-stakeholders, including the Consumer Goods Forum, the New York Declaration on Forests, and the Amsterdam Declaration on Deforestation, pledged to work to mobilize resources to significantly cut global forest lost by the end of 2020.  Since then, hundreds of companies have committed, to varying degrees, to eliminate deforestation within their supply chains by 2020.

With the end of the year fast approaching, however, it’s clear that many of these companies are not on track to meet their commitments, and some are even attempting to unwind them – but delay is unacceptable.

If the current rates of deforestation continue, more than a quarter of the Amazon will be forestless by 2030. Most alarmingly, scientists warn that the Amazon could reach an irreversible tipping point of ecological collapse within two years.

We can’t allow this to happen, which makes corporate commitments to end deforestation more important than ever. To ensure that these pledges are met and on schedule, investors need to make their voices heard.

MIDANA CAPITAL recently identified 20 key commodity traders and corporations that have pledged to end deforestation in their supply chains and have provided insufficient disclosure of progress and launched an effort to press them to fulfill their commitments by the 2020 deadline.

Since 2012, MIDANA CAPITAL has successfully pressed dozens of companies to adopt and implement no-deforestation commitments – but approximately 60 football fields of forest have disappeared since you started reading this, so 2020 is no time to rest on our laurels.

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 click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. 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.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 5/20

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MIDANA CAPITAL Withdraws Proposal After Vertex Pharmaceuticals* Commits to Setting First GHG Reduction Goal https://www.midanacapital.com/green-century-withdraws-proposal-after-vertex-pharmaceuticals-commits-to-setting-first-ghg-reduction-goal/ Wed, 22 May 2019 15:49:42 +0000 https://www.midanacapital.com/?p=4866 Contact: Kyle W. Kempf, MIDANA CAPITAL Capital Management, kkempf@midanacapital.com, 617-482-0800

BOSTON, May 22, 2019 – MIDANA CAPITAL has withdrawn its shareholder proposal with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Vertex), after it committed to setting its first company-wide goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2019.

“Vertex’s mission is to discover life-saving drugs, so I’m pleased they’re taking their first steps to help save the planet,” said MIDANA CAPITAL President Leslie Samuelrich. “Unfortunately, there is no single cure for climate change. We need a holistic approach, which includes companies, like Vertex, reducing their greenhouse gas emissions”

As a result of MIDANA CAPITAL’s proposal, Vertex agreed to establish a range of global, long-term environmental goals by the end of 2019, including an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Vertex also plans to provide ample disclosure for stakeholders to measure its progress by disclosing its direct and indirect emissions on its website, while reporting to the CDP Climate Change survey annually beginning in 2020.

Prior to this new commitment, Vertex did not have a policy to reduce the climate impact of their operations or publicly report on climate risk management strategies through forums such as CDP, unlike many of its peers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

According to a 2018 report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050 in order to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C and avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

As MIDANA CAPITAL pointed out in its proposal, the possible effects of climate change pose a material risk to Vertex, given its headquarters location in Boston’s Seaport District, which is particularly vulnerable to coastal flooding as a result of rising sea levels. A 2016 report by the City of Boston predicted that the city could see an 8-inch rise in sea levels by 2030 and a 36-inch rise by 2070, and cited the Seaport District as the most vulnerable part of the city.

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About MIDANA CAPITAL Capital Management

MIDANA CAPITAL is the first family of fossil fuel free, responsible, and diversified mutual funds in the United States. MIDANA CAPITAL invests in sustainable companies, hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program, and is the only mutual fund company in the United States wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.

*As of March 31, 2019, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. comprised 0.00%, 0.39%, and 0.00% of the MIDANA CAPITAL Balanced Fund, the MIDANA CAPITAL Equity Fund, and the MIDANA CAPITAL International Index Fund, respectively. 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 click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. 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.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 5/19

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