Top Environmental Management Practices Revealed

Updated Benchmarking Analysis of Disclosed U.S. Corporate Environmental Practices, 2013 Edition

by | Jul 24, 2014

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Updated Benchmarking Analysis of Disclosed U.S. Corporate Environmental Practices, 2013 EditionEcolab has the strongest environmental management of all the companies in the Russell 3000 index, according to a study that evaluates environmental policies and infrastructure.

Scoring 91 of 100 points, Ecolab saw an increase in score of 38 points (72 percent) during the past two years.

In second place is two-time top rated firm Intel with 89 points. Lexmark ranks no. 3 for 2013, increasing by 10 points from 2011, to 84 points.

The study, by Soyka & Company, is based on the application of an environmental rating methodology, the Governance and Environmental Management Strength (GEMS) Rating, designed to evaluate the ability of companies to anticipate and manage the environmental issues that pose risks and present opportunities to their operations by assessing the presence or absence of 43 indicators.

Soyka & Company created the GEMS Rating, which is powered by data provided by IW Financial.

The study is the third in a series.

Key findings include:

  • Eleven of the companies comprising the 2011 top 25 are no longer within this group. Most remain in the top 50 for 2013.
  • There are several highly ranked companies in both of the major sectors not represented within the top 25 firms, and they have remained in the top three within their respective sectors during some of all of the past four years. The include Bank of America in financials and CBRE/CB Richard Ellis and Prologis in real estate.
  • Many firms have greatly increased their environmental disclosure during the past four years. Examples include HCP and Forest City Enterprises in the real estate sector, Las Vegas Sands in the casinos and gaming industry, Hertz Global Holdings in the services sector/industry, and Bank of New York Mellon and Wells Fargo in the banking industry. Most of these companies posted a four-year increase of 40 points or more, generally starting from zero or a score in the single digits.
  • Some historically strong industries and companies are now disclosing less environmental information, most notable electric utilities, which contains five of the 16 firms posting the biggest overall reductions in adjusted GEMS Rating score. In all, 104 of the 814 firms remaining in or moving into the Russell 1000 from 2009-2013 exhibited declines in their overall GEMS Rating score during this period. Among those with the biggest declines in score are several former leaders including Merck, Citigroup and Xcel Energy.

 

 

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