World's 100 Most Sustainable Companies Announced

World’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies Announced

Submitted: The Two Sides Team January 30, 2014

North American firms hold 31 of the 100 spots.

Environmental Leader
January 23, 2014

Westpac Banking is the most sustainable company in the world, according to Corporate Knights, the Toronto-based media and investment research firm that compiles the annual Global 100 index.

The Australia-based financial service provider topped the 2014 iteration of the corporate sustainability index and has a long history of leadership in corporate sustainability, being the first bank to join the Australian government's Greenhouse Challenge Plus, Corporate Knights says.

Rounding out the top five are Biogen Idec, a US-based biotech firm, Outotec Oyj, a Finnish mining technology and capital goods company, Norwegian oil giant Statoil and Dassault Syst'mes, a French company that produces 3D design software.

US firms hold 18 of the 100 spots on this year's index. Canada followed with 13 spots, and the UK and France tied for third with eight spots each.

Emerging markets accounted for three positions on the index, consisting of firms from Brazil (two) and China (one). The financials sector took 22 spots on the index, followed by the consumer discretionary and IT sectors, each with 12 constituents.

Companies named to the Global 100 index, now in its 10th year, are the top overall sustainability performers in their respective industrial sectors. Corporate Knights determines inclusion in the Global 100 index using 12 quantitative sustainability indicators, including the amount of revenue companies generate per unit of energy consumption, the ratio of CEO to average worker salary and lost time injury rate.

Beginning Feb. 1, the Global 100 index will be calculated by Solactive, the German index provider.

Since its inception on Feb. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2013, the Global 100 index has delivered a total return of 91.01 percent, compared to 87.80 percent for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index.

Belgium-based materials technology and recycling company Umicore topped the 2013 Global 100 list.

In June 2013, Corporate Knights launched CR Ranker, a mobile app that lets any company assess its sustainability performance and rank itself against the world's biggest and best performing companies.