Green Century touts small carbon footprint in fund

In a move to raise awareness about transparency in green investing, Boston-based Green Century Capital Management Inc. today announced the results of a carbon analysis of one of its mutual funds.

Based on measuring the tons of carbon emissions per million dollars of revenue of the individual companies held by the fund, the firm found that the $26.9 million Green Century Balanced Fund (GCBLX) had a carbon footprint of 126, which was 66% less than that of the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, at 374.

Green Century commissioned the analysis from London-based research firm Trucost PLC, which began releasing data in April that it had compiled from the carbon emissions of more than 4,500 publicly traded companies worldwide.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases are believed to contribute to climate change and global warming.

“We wanted to make a statement that this information is important,” said Erin Gray, director of marketing and strategic analysis at Green Century.

“We are trying to set a new standard for disclosure and transparency in mutual fund companies and also increase carbon disclosure.”

Green Century, which has $86.3 million in assets under management, has two mutual funds that are managed with environmentally conscious criteria in mind, Ms. Gray said.

Passage of a bill to set national carbon emissions standards in the United States is likely to become a reality, she said.

“[The carbon footprint] is going to become an important financial consideration for investors,” Ms. Gray said.