Aussie Companies Slip in Global Sustainability Ranks

Australian companies have tumbled down the ranking list of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index, named in conjunction with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

This year’s Global 100 Index featured Australia’s ‘big four’ banks, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ranked at 21, Westpac at 41, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group at 78 and National Australia Bank at 79.

It is a drop from 2014 when five Australian companies made the list, including Westpac who topped the list followed by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group at 19, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at 25, Stockland at 32 and Wesfarmers at 92.

2015 ended property firm Stockland’s consecutive five-year run on the list.

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 capitalisation greater than $2 billion (USD).

Published annually by Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based media and investment research company, 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,” CEO of Corporate Knights, Toby Heaps said.

According to Corporate Knights, one of 2015’s key findings is the rapid uptake among firms to pay their executives to deliver on sustainability targets. In 2015, 85 per cent of the Global 100 firms provided a monetary bonus to executives who achieved sustainability targets.

The top-ranked company in this year’s Index is US company Biogen Idec. Headquartered in Cambridge,Massachusetts, Biogen provides medicine to treat ailments such as haemophilia, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

While U.S. firms earned the most positions on this year’s Global 100 Index, France made substantial strides in claiming 12 companies compared to eight in 2014.

See the full list here.