World's greenest businesses revealed
L'Oréal and Firmenich have topped a ranking of the world's largest companies for their efforts in tackling climate change, deforestation and water security.
Published today by CDP, the ranking also lists Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, and Unilever among 140 businesses with 'A' scores for “blazing a trail on environmental issues“.
Firmenich, the world's largest privately owned fragrance and flavour company, scored particularly high for tackling climate change, with all its European and US manufacturing sites 100% powered by renewable energy.
At the other end of the scale, American Airlines, China Telecom and Finnair received 'D' scores for climate action, while 3,800 of the 6,800 firms analysed were given an 'F' for “failure to provide sufficient information“.
It is hoped the results will harness businesses' competitive spirit and boost corporate responsibility, and come as leaders gather at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos to discuss climate change and other global challenges.
“The next decade is crucial in our shift to a sustainable economy, and we believe corporates are at the heart of this transition,“ CDP global director of corporates and supply chains, Dexter Galvin, said.
“By ranking companies, we aim not just to highlight leaders' best practice, but to inspire all businesses to aim higher and take more action.“
The businesses that disclosed information to CDP did so last year at the request of over 650 investors managing $87trn (£67trn) worth of assets to help them identify risks and opportunities.
Some of the leadership and innovation reported to CDP included Fujitsu's work with artificial intelligence and big data to enable quicker recovery plans when disasters hit.
LEGO launched its first products made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugar cane, while Australian IT company Telstra created a Cloud Calculator Tool for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions.
“Congratulations to the companies on the CDP A-list for their environmental leadership impacting businesses and supply chains globally,“ L'Or√©al chief corporate responsibility officer, Alexandra Palt, said.
“We particularly look to the CDP A-list and scoring process to help improve the environmental performance of our suppliers, actively managing risks and identifying future opportunities.“
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