BMW, Siemens named sector leaders on Dow Jones Sustainability list

The 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) was unveiled on Thursday with BMW, Siemens and Unilever among the 24 companies to be named the most sustainable in their sector.

Launched in 1999, the DJSI is the first global index to track the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide based on an analysis of financially material economic, environmental, and social factors.

The DJSI follow a best-in-class approach, including companies across all industries that outperform their peers in numerous sustainability metrics.

Each year over 3,000 companies, including 800 from emerging markets, are invited to participate in RobecoSAM's Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which provides in-depth analysis of economic, environmental, and social practices.

In order to qualify for the rankings, companies had to deliver a score of at least 40 per cent, with the top 10 per cent performers then being named "best in class".

The assessment criteria this year covered tax strategy; social and environmental reporting factors, including materiality; human capital development policies; and performance scoring related to occupational health and safety, and talent recruitment and retention.

David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the S&P Dow Jones Index Committee: "Both the importance and the understanding of sustainability has grown dramatically over the past decade and a half. During that time the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices have been established as the leading benchmark in the field. S&P Dow Jones Indices is pleased to work with RobecoSAM in combining S&P DJI's experience with indices and RobecoSAM's expertise in assessing corporate sustainability programmes."

16 companies have been recognised every single year for 15 years: Baxter, Bayer, BMW, BT, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, Intel, J Sainsbury, Novo Nordisk, RWE, SAP, Siemens, Storebrand, Unilever and UnitedHealth.

The individual sector leaders include: BMW (Autos), Westpac (Banks), Siemens (Capital Goods), SGS (Professional Services), LG Electronics (Consumer Durables & Apparel), Sodexo (Consumer Services), ING (Diversified Financials), Thai Oil (Energy), Woolworths (Food & Staples Retailing), Unilever (Food), Abbott Labs (Health Care), Kao (Household  Products), Swiss Re (Insurance), Akzo Nobel (Materials), Telenet (Media), Roche (Pharma), GPT (Real Estate), Lotte Shopping (Retailing), Taiwan Semiconductor (Semiconductors), Wipro (Software & Services), Alcatel-Lucent (High-tech Equipment), Air France-KLM (Transportation), EDP (Utilities) and Telecom Italia (Telecommunications).

Guido Giese, head of indices at RobecoSAM, which worked on the report with Dow Jones, said the number of companies listed had more than quadrupled since the project first launched in 1999.

This year, more than 40 UK companies made the grade, including Royal Mail, BT, Marks and Spencer, Ladbrokes and Aviva.