2014’s Top Green Companies Named

Media and telecommunications firm Vivendi, pharmaceutical company Allergan and software house Adobe Systems have taken the top three spots in Newsweek’s 2014 Top Green Companies in the World.

The annual ranking, which Newsweek publishes alongside a US-only ranking, rates the world’s largest companies’ corporate sustainability and environmental impact, ultimately awarding each company a percentage score.

France’s Vivendi scored 85.3 percent. Newsweek highlighted the company’s efforts to embrace solar energy, which powers 632 of its sites, and initiatives to encourage employees’ carpooling.

Botox-manufacturer Allergan, which also tops the US ranking, began creating its sustainability strategy 20 years ago. Recent efforts have concentrated on energy efficiency and waste management, according to Newsweek.

Software giant Adobe is also a “pioneer” of green building technologies, according to Newsweek. The company is a founding member of the US Green Building Council’s Building Health Initiative and is one of only a few Fortune 500 companies to have pledged global carbon neutrality by 2015, the publication reports.

Newsweek has been running the ranking since 2009. That year Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Intel and IBM topped the US ranking.

Companies that introduce a sustainability strategy throughout their supply chain generally see a boost in their financial performance — but those that don’t fully commit to the strategy generally see a decline in revenue, according to a study based on Newsweek’s green rankings released in January.

The study found that those firms in the ranking that integrated sustainable supply chain management, jointly including social and environmental supply chain management, generally saw “marked upgrades” in their fiscal returns, particularly through 2011, Strategy and Business reported. However, to see the improvements companies must be patient as the positive effects can have a time lag of at least two years, the study said.