Here is a 2015 list of global corporate sustainability leaders. On May 28th 2015 the GlobeScan/SustainAbility survey was released highlighting the 2015 Sustainability Leaders report. SustainAbility is a think tank and consultancy that supports business leadership on sustainability and GlobeScan is an international opinion research consultancy.
This survey is the most recent report tracking sustainability leadership. In addition to corporate leadership the survey ranks both national governments and NGOs. The survey asked 800 experts in 82 countries which companies are leaders in integrating sustainability into their business strategy. Here are the results for corporate sustainability:
Longtime sustainability leader Unilever has increased its lead by five percentage points over last year to once again claim the top spot. Unilever has dominated this category for five consecutive years. A total of 38 percent of the experts polled mentioned the company putting Unilever ahead of its closest competitor by 27 percentage points.
Part of what makes Unilever’s dominance so astounding is that it ranks at the top throughout most of the world (Asia, Africa/Middle East and North America). The only exceptions are in Latin America where Natura takes first place and Oceania where Interface leads.
Patagonia, another sustainability titan ranked second, followed by Interface, Marks and Spencer, Natura, Ikea, Nestle, GE, BASF, Nike, Coca-Cola and Walmart.
The report underscores the importance of values and describes them as, “paramount to achieving sustainability leadership.” The experts polled in this study said that “integrated sustainability values including beliefs of executive leadership are a key measure of corporate reputation.” They also said, “leadership in sustainable development is not possible without making sustainability part of a company’s core business model.”
The study clearly indicates that one of the chief measures of leadership is how well their values align with sustainable development. Here are the top three reasons why companies are cited as leaders: Values (26%), sustainability being a part of the core business model (22%) and sustainable products and services (12%).
To access the full report click here.
