World’s most sustainable firms named at World Economic Forum

The world’s 100 most sustainable companies were named at the World Economic Forum 2015 on Thursday in Davos.

The 2015 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index (Global 100), which was released by Canadian investment advisory firm Corporate Knights alongside the annual meeting in Switzerland.

Corporate Knight’s index assesses listed global companies which have a market capitalisation in excess of US$2 billion, and evaluates them against 12 indicators, including resource productivity, the gender diversity on a company’s board, taxes paid, and the ratio of an average worker’s pay to that of top management.

4,096 companies were considered for this year’s ranking.

Firms from sectors including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, software, energy, and real estate were ranked within their own industry groups, with the top performers for each sector named in the final Global 100 Index.

Top spot on the ranking was secured by American biotechnology firm Biogen Idec, which develops medicine to treat ailments such as haemophilia, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

The company was up one place from its second position in 2014.

Adrian Gottschalk, Biogen’s senior Vice President and managing director for Japan, said: “Our commitment to corporate citizenship and environmental sustainability reflects the best interests of the communities in which we operate,” he told Eco-Business.

Second on the list is Allergan Inc., the California pharmaceuticals company that recently spurned a take-over attempt from Montreal-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.

Germany apparel company Adidas wwere named in third place, Keppel Land from Singapore in fourth and Finnish retailing firm Kesko in fifth.

The rest of the top 10 included German automotive giant BMW; UK household products firm Reckitt Benckiser Group; British utilities company Centrica; French energy company Schneider Electric; and Danske Bank from Denmark.

This years Global 100 index also revealed that 85 per cent of the companies listed on the 2015 list linked the bonus paid to executives with their ability to deliver on sustainability targets.

Firms including Philips Electronics and Schneider Electric, for example, pegged the bonuses paid to top executives to achieving carbon emissions reductions.

The United States had the highest number of companies on the list, with 20 with the UK tied with France and Canada with 12 each.

Corporate Knights also calculates the investment performance of the Global 100 list, and compares it with the MSCI All Country World Index.

Since the list was first compiled in 2005, the Global 100 has generated a total return of 90.8 per cent, compared with 97 per cent for the MSCI ASW index.