Expansion Management

Top 100 Sustainable Businesses in the World

Feb. 3, 2010

At the World Economic Forum at Davos, Corporate Knights, which is a magazine for 'clean capitalism', announced its ranking of the most sustainable corporations. The Global 100 measures Energy Productivity, CO2 Productivity, Water Productivity, Waste ...

Adrienne Selko Blog

At the World Economic Forum at Davos, Corporate Knights, which is a magazine for 'clean capitalism', announced its ranking of the most sustainable corporations.

The Global 100 measures Energy Productivity, CO2 Productivity, Water Productivity, Waste Productivity, Leadership Diversity, CEO-to-Average Worker Pay, % Tax Paid, Sustainability Leadership, Sustainability Pay Link, Innovation Capacity & Transparency.

GE received the top spot due to its following achievements:

-- Leading ratio of sales to waste ($729,685 in sales per ton of waste)
-- Doubling of its carbon productivity (sales/tons of total CO2e) from 2006 to 2008
-- Cutting total carbon emissions from 10.8 million tons to 6.5 million tons
-- Strong board gender diversity (almost a quarter of directors were female)

Top 10 List
General Electric (US)
PG & E Corp. (US)
Tnt Nv Transportation (Netherlands)
H & M Hennes & Mauritz Ab Retailing (Sweden)
Nokia Corporation Tech. Hardware & Equip. (Finland)
Siemens Ag Capital Goods (Germany)
Unilever Plc (UK)
Vodafone Group Plc (UK)
Smiths Group Plc (UK)

Being on this list can increase a company's financial position as well. From its inception in February 2005, the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations have achieved a total return of 23.67%, outperforming its benchmark (the MSCI All Country World Index) by 334 basis points per annum to January 25th, 2010.

To view the entire list visit http://static.corporateknights.ca/PR_Global_2010_final.pdf

About the Author

Adrienne Selko Blog | Senior Editor

Focus: Expansion Management & the Biotech & Life Sciences Industries

Email: [email protected]

Follow Adrienne on Twitter: @ASelkoIW

Call: 216-931-9235

Senior Editor Adrienne Selko manages IndustryWeek’s Expansion Management, delivering ideas and information about how successful manufacturers leverage location to gain competitive advantage. She explores the strategies behind why companies located their headquarters, research institutes, factories, warehouse and distribution centers and other facilities where they did, and how they benefit from the decision.

Adrienne is also the editorial coordinator of the IndustryWeek Expansion Management Roundtable events, which unites economic development professionals to network and discuss the latest trends in site location.

As well, Adrienne tells the stories of successful companies in the biotechnology and life sciences industries.

In the past, Adrienne has managed IndustryWeek’s award-winning website, overseeing eNewletters, webinars, and contributed content. Before joining the staff, Adrienne was managing editor of corporate publications at a large regional financial institution. She also ran a public relations and marketing company that published a best-selling healthcare book.

Adrienne received a bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Michigan and is especially interested in wellness and natural health.