Biogen Idec ranks #1, 85% of the Global 100 firms link executive pay to sustainability targets.
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Corporate Knights, the Toronto-based media and investment advisory company, today released the 2015 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (Global 100) Index. The index is featured in the fall issue of Corporate Knights, the magazine for clean capitalism.
Companies named to the Global 100 index are the top overall sustainability performers in their respective industrial sectors, selected from a starting universe of 4,609 listed companies with a market capitalization greater than $2 billion (USD).
The Global 100 is determined using 12 quantitative sustainability indicators, including the amount of revenue companies generate per unit of energy consumed, the ratio of CEO to average worker pay and lost-time injury rate.
"The Global 100 represent the corporate trailblazers who are forging new ways to make more with less, while raising the bar on good governance and social responsibility," said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights.
One of this year's most encouraging findings is the rapid uptake among firms to pay their executives to deliver on sustainability targets. In 2015, 85% of the Global 100 firms provided a monetary bonus to executives who achieved sustainability targets. For instance, Philips Electronics and Schneider Electric link their executives' bonuses to achieving carbon emissions reductions.
The top-ranked company in this year's Global 100 index is Biogen Idec. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Biogen provides medicine to treat ailments such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's.
Biogen performed in the top quartile against its biotechnology peers on revenue/energy consumption, revenue/water use, revenue/greenhouse gas emissions, revenue/waste generated, tax paid, board diversity and worker safety.
While U.S. firms earned the most positions on this year's Global 100 Index, France made substantial strides claiming 12 companies (up from eight in 2014), in part due to more substantive corporate reporting requirements that arise out of France's Grenelle II Act. It is also notable that the tiny island state of Singapore, known for its high natural resource productivity, placed four companies on this year's list.
| Country |
# of |
| United States |
20 |
| Canada |
12 |
| France |
12 |
| United Kingdom |
11 |
| Finland |
5 |
| Germany |
5 |
| Australia |
4 |
| Singapore |
4 |
| South Korea |
4 |
| Sweden |
4 |
| Denmark |
3 |
| Netherlands |
3 |
| Norway |
3 |
| Ireland |
2 |
| Belgium, Brazil, Hong Kong SAR China, |
1 |
The Global 100 index (which is equally weighted) commenced on February 1, 2005. From inception to December 31, 2014, it delivered a total return of 90.76%, compared to 96.98% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. This is the first year-end that the Global 100 Index has fallen behind its benchmark, in large part due to the rising U.S. dollar, as 81 per cent of Global 100 constituents trade in non-US denominated currencies, versus approximately 50% for the MSCI ACWI.
For full rankings please visit: www.corporateknights.com/reports/global-100
SOURCE Corporate Knights Inc.
Image with caption: "The Global 100 is featured in the Winter 2015 issue of Corporate Knights magazine. (CNW Group/Corporate Knights Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20150121_C6648_PHOTO_EN_10341.jpg
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