Puma Earns A, Apple Takes Home D in EIRIS Sustainability Rankings

by | May 2, 2012

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German sportswear manufacturer Puma tops EIRIS’ Top 10 Global Sustainability Leaders list while Apple earns a D, in a ranking that sees UK and European companies receive higher marks than their US and Asian counterparts.

With the UN’s 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit coming up in June, the research house applied its Sustainability Ratings methodology to measure the sustainability performance of 2,063 global companies from the FTSE Aall World Developed Index. The report, titled “On track for Rio+20? How are global companies responding to sustainability?” identified 10 sustainability leaders and analyzes the performance of 50 of the world’s largest companies (by market cap).

A fifth of UK companies scored As, the highest ranking, based on their sustainability performance, followed by 12 percent of mainland European ones. But only 2 percent of US companies and 1 percent of Asian ones make the top grade in EIRIS’ Global Sustainability Ratings.

Puma received an A for its environmental management systems and reporting practices, along with its industry-leading supply chain policies, systems and disclosure, according to EIRIS analysts.

In late April, PPR, Puma’s parent company, announced a series of sustainability goals, pledging to cut its carbon emissions, waste and water usage resulting from the production of products and services by 25 percent by 2016.

The UK travel and leisure company FirstGroup derives more than 90 percent of sales from rail and bus services, which earned it an A in EIRIS’ Top 10.

Other Top 10 Global Sustainability Leaders:

  • National Australia Bank
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Roche
  • Novartis
  • Philips Electronics
  • Deutsche Börse
  • Novo Nordisk
  • Go-Ahead Group

Along with Apple, which EIRIS gives a D and says needs to do more to address supply-chain sustainability challenges, Exxon Mobil, the world’s second biggest company, also ranks low on EIRIS’ sustainability list. The oil and gas company shows poor performance in the areas of biodiversity, climate change and water management, according to the report. Toyota, the Japanese car maker, produces greener cars, but lags behind rivals on supply-chain-labor standards, earning it a C. Chevron along with other major oil and gas producers, including ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum, receives EIRIS’ lowest rating

An evaluation of 21 sustainability ratings—including EIRIS—by think tank SustainAbility, however, found that most lack sufficient quality controls.

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