Corporate Knights, Innovest Name 100 'Most Sustainable' Firms for 2009
<p>Twenty U.S. businesses, 19 from the U.K. and 15 from Japan were named in this year's list of "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World."</p>
Twenty U.S. businesses, 19 from the U.K. and 15 from Japan were named in this year's list of "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World."
The 2009 Global 100 list was released this week by independent media company Corporate Knights Inc. and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
In compiling the list for the project, Innovest assesses leading firms on the global stock market index MSCI World based on how those businesses handle environmental, social and governance opportunities and risk in comparison to industry peers.
Companies selected for the annual roster are listed name, business sector and country, but are not ranked. The list is available here.
A sampling of firms in various industry categories that made this year's list include Adidas AG of Germany, Amazon.com Inc. of the United States, British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC of the U.K., H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB of Sweden, Honda Motor Company Limited of Japan, Inditex SA of Spain and Michelin of France in the consumer discretionary category; Kesko OYJ of Finland in consumer staples; energy firms Encana Corp. of Canada, Saipem of Italy and Statoilhydro ASA of Norway; Lend Lease Corp. Limited of Australia in financials; health care-related firms Novo Nordisk A/S of Denmark and Roche Holdings Limited of Switzerland; TNT NV of the Netherlands in the industrials sector; and Ericsson Telephone AB of Sweden in IT.
In terms of tallies by country, in addition to those in the U.S., U.K. and Japan, eight firms are in France, seven in Germany, five each in Canada, Finland and Sweden, three each in Australia, Denmark, Spain and Switzerland, two in Italy and one each in the Netherlands and Norway.
The list, first released in 2005, is intended to identify the companies most likely to thrive long-term "because of their holistic approach to managing stakeholder relationships," according to Corporate Knights and Innovest.
As part of the project this year, the compilers looked at the longevity of firms selected for the 2009 list. The oldest enterprise is Stora Enso OYJ of Finland, established in 1288. The integrated group of forest products companies specializes in stock for newspapers, magazines, fine papers and packaging boards. The youngest firm on the list is the Telus Corporation telecommunications firm of Canada, which was established in 1999.
