Amana Funds 2021 Impact Report
2021 picked up where 2020 left off: waves of coronavirus wreaked havoc on society, July was the hottest month ever recorded worldwide,¹ and growing income inequalities continued to undermine social cohesion.² Fortunately, not all was doom and gloom during the year. As of the first quarter of 2021, nations responsible for 73% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions had made net-zero pledges. These pledges, which signal a country’s willingness to combat climate change, have risen from covering only 19% of emissions in 2019 and 57% in 2020.3 On a corporate level, we’ve seen many improvements including a higher average number of women on leadership boards and greater use of renewable energy. We’re pleased to see these trends manifest across the holdings of the Amana Funds covered in this report (Growth, Income, and Developing World) along with their respective benchmarks. These improvements are yet another signal that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing helps to drive positive change.