Wednesday, 27 January 2021
The Paris-based energy technology company climbed 28 ranks to reach top spot of the Global 100 sustainability rankings in 2021, relegating 2020 leader, Danish energy giant Ørsted to second place.
The Global 100 list, devised by the Corporate Knights media and research group attempts to rank corporations based upon their sustainable practices. This includes environmental and pollution considerations, but also health and safety, as well as diversity measures.
The 2021 list was released on 25 January 2021.
Schneider Electric welcome the announcement, with their CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire also noting Schneider Electric's role in helping other corporations reach their sustainability goals with regards to energy consumption.
“For example, Walmart came to us because they want to be greener. But 90% of the [environmental] footprint of Walmart is with its suppliers. So they contracted us to work with their thousands of suppliers to help save 1 gigatonne of carbon over the next 10 years,” he said.
The Nordic countries are well represented on the Global 100 list, with Nordic companies accounting for three of the top 10 spots and 14 of the overall 100. In particular, the Danish pharmaceutical industry stands out, with Chr Hansen Holding, Novozymes, and Novo Nordisk making the cut.
One of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Corporate Knights used to rank the company sustainability was GHG Productivity or Carbon Productivity. Judicious use of Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) is likely to reduce effective emissions thus improve productivity on a per-unit emissions basis.
As corporates become more environmentally aware, driven by their customers and industry peers (through prominent listings such as the Global 100 index, or initiatives such as the RE100) the demand for EACs, including GOs, will also rise.
Sources
The Guardian