Green

Mapped: Where Are the World’s Most Sustainable Companies?

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2020

Iman Ghosh

The Most Sustainable Companies

Where Are the World’s Most Sustainable Companies?

Everywhere you look, sustainability is permeating social, political, and business agendas.

In recent years, an impressive number of companies have stepped up to take a more active role in shaping a more sustainable future—not just in the environmental sense, but also by taking social and governance factors into consideration.

Today’s chart draws from the Corporate Knights Global 100, an annual ranking of the 100 most sustainable companies, to visualize exactly how many are located in each corner of the world. The companies on the list are clear winners not only because they aim to leave the world a better place, but because their stocks have also outperformed the market on average.

How is Corporate Sustainability Measured?

The researchers rely on readily available data for all publicly-listed companies with at least $1 billion in gross revenue (in PPP), as of the financial year 2018.

Companies are then screened for several key performance indicators (KPIs), including but not limited to the following categories and examples:

Resource management
Example: GHGs and other emissions such as NOx and SOx emissions
Financial management
Example: Innovation capacity, or the percentage of R&D spending against total revenue
Employee management
Example: Women in executive management and/or on boards
Clean revenue
Example: The percentage of total revenue derived from “clean” products and services

The concentration of the most sustainable companies also varies greatly depending on where you look. Here’s a closer view of every region.

Europe: 49/100 Sustainable Companies

Europe is front-and-center in the tidal shift towards more sustainable business, driven by far-reaching regulations. With this in mind, it’s perhaps not surprising to see that Europe is a hotbed of activity.

Nearly half the world’s most sustainable companies are located in Europe. France paves the way with nine sustainable companies in the ranking, followed by Finland with six companies of 100.

Rank	Company	Industry	Country
#1	Ørsted A/S	Wholesale Power	🇩🇰 Denmark
#2	Chr. Hansen Holding A/S	Food and other chemical agents	🇩🇰 Denmark
#3	Neste Oyj	Petroleum Refineries	🇫🇮 Finland
#6	Novozymes A/S	Specialty and Performance Chemicals	🇩🇰 Denmark
#7	ING Groep NV	Banks	🇳🇱 Netherlands
#8	Enel SpA	Wholesale Power	🇮🇹 Italy
#11	Osram Licht AG	Electrical Equipment and Power Systems	🇩🇪 Germany
#13	Storebrand ASA	Insurance	🇳🇴 Norway
#14	Umicore SA	Primary Metals Products	🇧🇪 Belgium
#17	Iberdrola SA	Wholesale Power	🇪🇸 Spain
#18	Outotec Oyj	Machinery Manufacturing	🇫🇮 Finland
#20	Accenture PLC	Technology Consulting Services	🇮🇪 Ireland
#21	Dassault Systemes SE	Software	🇫🇷 France
#23	Kering SA	Apparel and Accessory Products	🇫🇷 France
#24	UPM-Kymmene Oyj	Forestry and Paper Products	🇫🇮 Finland
#27	H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB	Apparel and Accessories Retail	🇸🇪 Sweden
#28	Sanofi SA	Biopharmaceuticals	🇫🇷 France
#29	Schneider Electric SE	Industrial Conglomerates	🇫🇷 France
#31	BNP Paribas SA	Banks	🇫🇷 France
#32	Kone Oyj	Machinery Manufacturing	🇫🇮 Finland
#33	Verbund AG	Wholesale Power	🇦🇹 Austria
#34	Valeo SA	Consumer Vehicles and Parts	🇫🇷 France
#35	ERG S.p.A.	Wholesale Power	🇮🇹 Italy
#37	Vestas Wind Systems A/S	Electrical Equipment and Power Systems	🇩🇰 Denmark
#38	bioMérieux	Diagnostics and Drug Delivery Devices	🇫🇷 France
#39	Intesa Sanpaolo SpA	Banks	🇮🇹 Italy
#40	Koninklijke KPN NV	Wireless and Wireline Telecomm. Services	🇳🇱 Netherlands
#41	Siemens AG	Industrial Conglomerates	🇩🇪 Germany
#45	Koninklijke DSM NV	Food and other chemical agents	🇳🇱 Netherlands
#46	Unilever PLC	Personal Care and Cleaning Products	🇬🇧 UK
#52	Ericsson	Communications Equipment	🇸🇪 Sweden
#55	Adidas AG	Apparel and Accessory Products	🇩🇪 Germany
#56	AstraZeneca PLC	Biopharmaceuticals	🇬🇧 UK
#59	Commerzbank AG	Banks	🇩🇪 Germany
#61	Abb Ltd	Industrial Conglomerates	🇨🇭 Switzerland
#64	Pearson PLC	Personal Professional Services	🇬🇧 UK
#65	BT Group PLC	Wireless and Wireline Telecomm. Services	🇬🇧 UK
#66	Metso Oyj	Machinery Manufacturing	🇫🇮 Finland
#69	Assicurazioni Generali SpA	Insurance	🇮🇹 Italy
#70	Acciona SA	Facilities and Construction Services	🇪🇸 Spain
#71	Novo Nordisk A/S	Biopharmaceuticals	🇩🇰 Denmark
#73	Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB	Banks	🇸🇪 Sweden
#76	Ucb S.A.	Biopharmaceuticals	🇧🇪 Belgium
#79	GlaxoSmithKline PLC	Biopharmaceuticals	🇬🇧 UK
#87	BASF SE	Specialty and Performance Chemicals	🇩🇪 Germany
#94	Industria de Diseno Textil SA	Apparel and Accessories Retail	🇪🇸 Spain
#98	L'Oreal SA	Personal Care and Cleaning Products	🇫🇷 France
#99	Kesko Corporation	Food and Beverage Retail	🇫🇮 Finland
#100	Amundi SA	Investment Services	🇫🇷 France

Denmark’s Ørsted A/S claims the top of the leaderboard in 2020. Within a decade, the company has completely transformed its business model—shifting away from the Danish Oil and Natural Gas (DONG) company into a pure play renewable energy company. The company recognized the importance of this transition:

Running the company just for profit doesn’t make sense, but running it just for a bigger purpose is also not sustainable in the long term. Doing good and doing well must go together.

—Henrik Poulsen, CEO

Just 10 years ago, DONG was 85%-fossil fuel based, and only 15%-renewables based. Today, Ørsted has flipped these proportions. The company attributes its dramatic transformation to the societal demand for green energy, and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2025.

North America: 29/100 Sustainable Companies

In this region, the U.S. alone is responsible for 17 of the top 100 sustainable companies in the world. What’s more, of the 28 new companies to the 2020 Ranking, Canada is the homebase for nine of these entrants.

Rank	Company	Industry	Country
#4	Cisco Systems Inc	Communications Equipment	🇺🇸 U.S.
#5	Autodesk Inc	Software	🇺🇸 U.S.
#10	Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp	Electric Utilities	🇨🇦 CA
#15	Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co	Computer Hardware	🇺🇸 U.S.
#16	American Water	Water Utilities	🇺🇸 U.S.
#22	McCormick & Company	Food and Beverage Production	🇺🇸 U.S.
#26	Prologis Inc	Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)	🇺🇸 U.S.
#44	Bombardier Inc	Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing	🇨🇦 CA
#47	Sims Metal Management Ltd	Primary Metals Products	🇺🇸 U.S.
#48	Bank of Montreal	Banks	🇨🇦 CA
#49	Cascades Inc	Containers and Packaging	🇨🇦 CA
#53	Danaher Corporation	Medical Devices	🇺🇸 U.S.
#54	Canadian National Railway Co	Cargo Transportation and Infrastructure Services	🇨🇦 CA
#57	Stantec Inc	Facilities and Construction Services	🇨🇦 CA
#58	HP Inc	Computer Peripherals and Systems	🇺🇸 U.S.
#60	Sun Life Financial Inc	Insurance	🇨🇦 CA
#62	Alphabet Inc	Internet and Data Services	🇺🇸 U.S.
#67	Comerica Incorporated	Banks	🇺🇸 U.S.
#74	Tesla Inc	Consumer Vehicles and Parts	🇺🇸 U.S.
#77	Workday Inc	Software	🇺🇸 U.S.
#78	Merck & Co Inc	Biopharmaceuticals	🇺🇸 U.S.
#81	Intel Corporation	Semiconductor Manufacturing	🇺🇸 U.S.
#82	Analog Devices Inc	Semiconductor Manufacturing	🇺🇸 U.S.
#83	IGM Financial Inc	Investment Services	🇨🇦 CA
#84	Canadian Solar Inc	Electrical Equipment and Power Systems	🇨🇦 CA
#88	Cogeco Communications Inc	Wireless and Wireline Telecomm. Services	🇨🇦 CA
#91	Teck Resources Ltd.	Metal Ore Mining	🇨🇦 CA
#93	Campbell Soup	Food and Beverage Production	🇺🇸 U.S.
#96	Telus Corp.	Wireless and Wireline Telecomm. Services	🇨🇦 CA

Cisco Systems comes in fourth worldwide, partly as a result of its clean revenues worth a stunning $25 billion. Not far behind is Autodesk, which rose an impressive 43 places since 2019. The main factor behind this leap? The software corporation now operates its cloud platforms using 99% renewable energy.

Asia: 16/100 Sustainable Companies

Over in Asia, Japan is a clear leader, boasting six sustainable companies in the list. Interestingly, the companies are from a wide range of industries, from computers (Panasonic) to cars (Toyota).

Rank	Company	Industry	Country
#12	Sekisui Chemicals	Other Materials	🇯🇵 Japan
#25	Taiwan Semiconductor	Semiconductor Equipment and Services	🇹🇼 Taiwan
#36	City Developments Ltd	Real Estate Investment and Services	🇸🇬 Singapore
#43	Shinhan Financial Group	Banks	🇰🇷 South Korea
#50	Advantech	Computer Hardware	🇹🇼 Taiwan
#63	Capitaland Limited	Real Estate Investment and Services	🇸🇬 Singapore
#68	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Biopharmaceuticals	🇯🇵 Japan
#72	Konica Minolta	Computer Peripherals and Systems	🇯🇵 Japan
#80	Samsung	Electrical Equipment and Power Systems	🇰🇷 South Korea
#85	BYD Co.	Consumer Vehicles and Parts	🇨🇳 China
#86	Kao Corp.	Personal Care and Cleaning Products	🇯🇵 Japan
#89	Panasonic Corp.	Computer Hardware	🇯🇵 Japan
#90	Vitasoy	Food and Beverage Production	🇭🇰 Hong Kong
#92	Toyota Motor Corp.	Consumer Vehicles and Parts	🇯🇵 Japan
#95	Singtel	Wireless and Wireline Telecomm. Services	🇸🇬 Singapore
#97	Lenovo Group	Computer Peripherals and Systems	🇨🇳 China

Japanese plastics manufacturer Sekisui Chemicals comes in first in Asia, after an immense improvement of 77 positions in just one year. The company builds environmentally-friendly housing, and 28% of its revenue aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Rest of the World: 6/100 Sustainable Companies

There are a few notable mentions in other regions, too. Brazil’s Banco do Brasil remains in the top ten list, and is one of the three most sustainable companies in all of South America.

Rank	Company	Industry	Country
#9	Banco do Brasil SA	Banks	🇧🇷 Brazil
#19	CEMIG	Electric Utilities	🇧🇷 Brazil
#30	Natura Cosmeticos SA	Personal Care and Cleaning Products	🇧🇷 Brazil
#42	National Australia Bank Ltd	Banks	🇦🇺 Australia
#51	Standard Bank Group Ltd	Banks	🇿🇦 South Africa
#75	Westpac Banking Corp	Banks	🇦🇺 Australia

More than half of the companies in these remaining regions are banks. Incidentally, financial services are the biggest group in the Global 100 overall.

The Best of Both Worlds

As it turns out, you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Altogether, the Global 100 most sustainable companies have consistently outperformed*, and outlasted the average company in the MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index):

Metric	G100	MSCI ACWI
Annualized Return	7.3%	7.0%
Average Company Age	83 years	49 years

*Between 2005-Dec. 31 2019

Corporate sustainability is a significant driving force for urgent climate action, and the sustainable companies on this list acknowledge the triple bottom line of not just making profit, but also creating a lasting impact on people and the planet.

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Misc

Animated Map: Visualizing Earth’s Seasons

This map visualizes Earth’s seasons, showing how our planet’s Arctic sea ice and vegetation changes throughout the year.

Creator Program

Published

20 hours ago

January 22, 2022

Carmen Ang

Animated Map: Visualizing Earth’s Seasons

Why does Earth have seasons?

Many people think the seasons are dictated by Earth’s proximity to the Sun, but this isn’t the case. It’s the Earth’s tilt, not its closeness to the Sun, that influences our seasons.

This animated map by Eleanor Lutz visualizes Earth’s seasons, showing how the temperature changes impact ice levels in the Arctic as well as vegetation more broadly. It also highlights the cloud cover and sunlight each hemisphere receives throughout the year, with each frame in the animation representing a month of time.

Why is Earth Tilted?

Unlike some of the planets that sit completely upright and rotate perpendicularly, Earth rotates on a 23.5-degree axis.

But why? A commonly accepted theory among the scientific community is the giant impact hypothesis. According to this theory, a celestial object called Theia collided with Earth many years ago, when the planet was still forming. This collision not only knocked Earth into its tilted position—some believe that the dust and debris from this impact ended up forming our moon.

Ever since, our planet has been rotating with a slight tilt (which itself is not fixed, as it “wobbles” in cycles), giving us our varying seasons throughout the year.

How Earth’s Tilt Influences our Seasons

As our planet orbits the Sun, it’s always leaning in the same direction. Because of its tilt, the different hemispheres receive varying amounts of sunlight at different times of the year.

In December, Earth is technically closer to the Sun than it is in June or July. However, because the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun during December, that part of the planet experiences winter during that time.

Earth's Seasonal Climates

The graphic above by the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) visualizes Earth’s orbit throughout the year, showing when each hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight (and thus, experiences summer).

The Climate Change Impact

While our seasons have always varied, it’s worth noting that climate change has impacted our seasons, and changed how much Arctic ice we lose each summer.

In the past, millions of miles of ice remained frozen throughout the summer months. In the 1980s, there were 3.8 million square miles of ice in July—that’s roughly the same size as Australia.

Over the years, Arctic ice cover has steadily declined. In July 2020, the ice cover was only 2.8 million square miles—a million less than the amount four decades ago.

Some scientists are predicting that we could lose our summer sea ice entirely by 2035, which would have a devastating impact on the Artic’s wildlife and the indigenous people who live there.

Energy

Ranked: Nuclear Power Production, by Country

Nuclear power accounted for 10% of global electricity generated in 2020. Here’s a look at the largest nuclear power producers.

Published

6 days ago

January 17, 2022

Govind Bhutada

Nuclear Power Production by Country

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.

Nearly 450 reactors around the world supply various nations with nuclear power, combining for about 10% of the world’s electricity, or about 4% of the global energy mix.

But while some countries are turning to nuclear as a clean energy source, nuclear energy generation overall has seen a slowdown since its peak in the 1990s.

The above infographic breaks down nuclear electricity generation by country in 2020 using data from the Power Reactor Information System (PRIS).

Ranked: The Top 15 Countries for Nuclear Power

Just 15 countries account for more than 91% of global nuclear power production. Here’s how much energy these countries produced in 2020:

Rank	Country	Number of Operating Reactors	Nuclear Electricity Supplied [GWh]	% share
#1	U.S. 🇺🇸	96	789,919	30.9%
#2	China 🇨🇳	50	344,748	13.5%
#3	France 🇫🇷	58	338,671	13.3%
#4	Russia 🇷🇺	39	201,821	7.9%
#5	South Korea 🇰🇷	24	152,583	6.0%
#6	Canada 🇨🇦	19	92,166	3.6%
#7	Ukraine 🇺🇦	15	71,550	2.8%
#8	Germany 🇩🇪	6	60,918	2.4%
#9	Spain 🇪🇸	7	55,825	2.2%
#10	Sweden 🇸🇪	7	47,362	1.9%
#11	U.K. 🇬🇧	15	45,668	1.8%
#12	Japan 🇯🇵	33	43,099	1.7%
#13	India 🇮🇳	22	40,374	1.6%
#14	Belgium 🇧🇪	7	32,793	1.3%
#15	Czechia 🇨🇿	6	28,372	1.1%
	Rest of the World 🌎	44	207,340	8.1%
	Total	448	2,553,208	100.0%

In the U.S., nuclear power produces over 50% of the country’s clean electricity. Additionally, 88 of the country’s 96 operating reactors in 2020 received approvals for a 20-year life extension.

China, the world’s second-largest nuclear power producer, is investing further in nuclear energy in a bid to achieve its climate goals. The plan, which includes building 150 new reactors by 2035, could cost as much as $440 billion.

On the other hand, European opinions on nuclear energy are mixed. Germany is the eighth-largest on the list but plans to shutter its last operating reactor in 2022 as part of its nuclear phase-out. France, meanwhile, plans to expand its nuclear capacity.

Which Countries Rely Most on Nuclear Energy?

Although total electricity generation is useful for a high-level global comparison, it’s important to remember that there are some smaller countries not featured above where nuclear is still an important part of the electricity mix.

Here’s a breakdown based on the share of nuclear energy in a country’s electricity mix:

Rank	Country	Nuclear Share of Electricity Mix
#1	France 🇫🇷	70.6%
#2	Slovakia 🇸🇰	53.1%
#3	Ukraine 🇺🇦	51.2%
#4	Hungary 🇭🇺	48.0%
#5	Bulgaria 🇧🇬	40.8%
#6	Belgium 🇧🇪	39.1%
#7	Slovenia 🇸🇮	37.8%
#8	Czechia 🇨🇿	37.3%
#9	Armenia 🇦🇲	34.5%
#10	Finland 🇫🇮	33.9%
#11	Switzerland 🇨🇭	32.9%
#12	Sweden 🇸🇪	29.8%
#13	South Korea 🇰🇷	29.6%
#14	Spain 🇪🇸	22.2%
#15	Russia 🇷🇺	20.6%
#16	Romania 🇷🇴	19.9%
#17	United States 🇺🇸	19.7%
#18	Canada 🇨🇦	14.6%
#19	United Kingdom 🇬🇧	14.5%
#20	Germany 🇩🇪	11.3%

European countries dominate the leaderboard with 14 of the top 15 spots, including France, where nuclear power is the country’s largest source of electricity.

It’s interesting to note that only a few of these countries are top producers of nuclear in absolute terms. For example, in Slovakia, nuclear makes up 53.6% of the electricity mix—however, the country’s four reactors make up less than 1% of total global operating capacity.

On the flipside, the U.S. ranks 17th by share of nuclear power in its mix, despite producing 31% of global nuclear electricity in 2020. This discrepancy is largely due to size and population. European countries are much smaller and produce less electricity overall than larger countries like the U.S. and China.

The Future of Nuclear Power

The nuclear power landscape is constantly changing.

There were over 50 additional nuclear reactors under construction in 2020, and hundreds more are planned primarily in Asia.

As countries turn away from fossil fuels and embrace carbon-free energy sources, nuclear energy might see a resurgence in the global energy mix despite the phase-outs planned in several countries around the globe.