Stockholm (NordSIP) – Corporate Knights, announced their 2022 ranking of the world’s 100 most sustainable corporations is based on a rigorous assessment of nearly 7,000 public companies with revenue over US$1 billion. “We are rapidly moving towards a future where leading sustainability performers like Vestas will drive more viable returns than their global corporate peers. This will form a strong foundation towards achieving a carbon-neutral economy in line with global climate goals”, said Toby Heaps, CEO, Corporate Knights
Denmark Leads the Way
Denmark leads the rankings with 5 corporates in the top 100 ranking, including Vestas Wind Systems A/S (1), Chr Hansen Holding A/S (2), Orsted A/S (7), Novozymes A/S (35) and Coloplast A/S (83).
“Vestas has successfully helped our partners avoid more than 1.7 billion tonnes carbon emissions over the past four decades. Building a more sustainable future for our planet however, demands that we do more. As the energy transition accelerates, Vestas is dedicated to making sure this transformation unfolds sustainably, in close collaboration with our partners”, said Henrik Andersen, CEO and President, Vestas.
“Improving our sustainability performance has been an opportunity for Vestas to create more value for our partners. Through establishing sustainability as a priority across our entire value chain, including our supplier network, we have created many more opportunities for collaboration, and for driving maturity and scale for the renewables industry. Although we still have a long journey ahead, we are proud to be paving the way for renewables to expand without compromising the interests of future generations”, said Lisa Ekstrand, Vice President and Head of Sustainability, Vestas.
Ørsted celebrated its ranking as the world’s most sustainable energy company according to the ranking. “Taking the necessary action to stay within 1.5 °C is in essence neither a technology nor an economic challenge. It’s a leadership challenge, and we don’t have another month, week, or day to waste. In the past year, we’ve seen a boom in government and corporate climate ambitions, and 2022 must be the year where governments and businesses turn ambition into action,” Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, says.
“Energy is still responsible for over 70 % of global emissions, and without an immediate ramp-up in action, the world will not halve emissions by 2030, and our shot at a 1.5 °C future is lost. As a green energy leader, we experience first-hand what’s delaying the decarbonisation of the world’s power systems, and what takes us forward, and we’re eager to share our insights on how to accelerate global climate action,” Nipper adds.
Nordea Leads Nordic Banks
Finland comes second among the Nordics with four companies further down the line including Neste Oyj (24), Metso Outotec Corp (40), Kesko Oyj (69), Nordea Bank Abp (70).
“We are proud to be included again in the index, which is an acknowledgement of Neste’s sustainability efforts and achievements. In 2021, we made great progress in our strategic transformation to become a global leader in renewable and circular solutions,” says Minna Aila, Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Neste. Neste Oyj is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland. It produces, refines and markets oil products, provides engineering services, and licenses production technologies.
“We continue to set high standards for sustainability and in 2021, we broadened our sustainability vision, extended our climate commitments to include Scope 3 emissions and set the ambition to make Porvoo the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. Placing on the index gets more and more demanding every year, as companies strengthen their sustainability agenda to ensure sustainable operations for the future. It should encourage every company to set the bar high and work even harder to reach their sustainability goals,” Aila continues.
“I’m very proud of our journey and the work we’ve done within sustainability. It’s an honour to be once again ranked by Corporate Knights as one of the world’s most sustainable companies and also to climb several places in the ranking,” says Frank Vang-Jensen, Nordea President and Group CEO.
“Sustainability is an integrated part of our value proposition and Nordea was the first Nordic bank to set intermediate targets for 2030. We are committed to continuing this journey for the benefit of our customers, our business and the future of the societies we operate in,” Frank Vang-Jensen adds.
Norway and Sweden Trail Behind
The rankings also included two companies from Norway: Atea ASA (51) and Storebrand ASA (55). Storebrand celebrated being ranked as the world’s most sustainable insurance company in the ranking. “It is great to see that our long-term efforts to achieve sustainability throughout our organization are contributing to tangible results. This work also helps ensure the resilience of our operations, and builds faith in our potential for future growth,” says Odd Arild Grefstad, CEO of Storebrand.
Sweden was the least represented country in the list, with only Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (95) making it to the Corporate Knights Top 100 Corporate list. However, even this inclusion was not necessarily great news since the Swedish company was down 6 places in the ranking vis-a-vis last year, when it ranked in 89th place.
