(BOSTON) – October 17, 2011 – Today, NEWSWEEK published its third annual Green Rankings, identifying the greenest among the world’s largest companies. Research partners Sustainalytics and Trucost evaluated each company’s performance on a number of criteria related to environmental impact, management and disclosure. Although Trucost is returning as a research partner for the third time, this is Sustainalytics’ first year collaborating with NEWSWEEK on the Rankings.

“Companies that perform well on the Green Rankings are leaders in environmental sustainability, and are financially outperforming their peers,” said Dr. James Salo, Senior Vice President, Trucost. “The management of environmental performance and impacts is now a competitive landscape where companies fight to gain competitive advantage.”

“Sustainalytics is proud to have been selected as a research partner for this year’s Green Rankings. Recent events show the public desire for companies to act as good ‘corporate citizens’ so this type of analysis is critical,” said Michael Jantzi, CEO, Sustainalytics. “The NEWSWEEK list highlights those companies that are performing well and others where there is room for improvement.”

The rankings provide a consistent framework for comparing the environmental commitment and performance of major companies across industries. The development of these rankings is supported by high level quality assurance and due diligence. Companies are contacted by each research partner and given the opportunity to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information assessed prior to calculating the scores. In selecting Sustainalytics and Trucost as research partners NEWSWEEK has chosen recognized leaders in the fields of environmental, social and governance research and environmental impact measurement respectively. Moreover, the Green Rankings research process was overseen by an independent advisory panel of esteemed academics and practitioners, committed to supporting the integrity of this initiative.

The overall company score for the Green Rankings comprises three separate scores:

• Environmental Impact Score: Based on Trucost’s comprehensive, quantitative, and standardized measurement of the overall environmental impact of a company’s global operations, this score factors in more than 700 metrics including water usage and greenhouse gas emissions;
• Environmental Management Score: Informed by research from Sustainalytics’ Global Platform, this is an assessment of how each company manages its environmental footprint and measures the quality of each company’s environmental policies, programs, targets and initiatives. The scope of this assessment extends beyond a company’s own operations, to its suppliers and contractors, as well as its products and services; and
• Environmental Disclosure Score: New as a stand-alone heading this year, it assesses each company’s reporting and transparency on environmental impact and management. 

“Environmental momentum, at least in the public sector, has slowed significantly since Newsweek published its inaugural Green Rankings two years ago,” said Assistant Editor Ian Yarett.  “But many big companies are taking this issue very seriously, and our rankings highlight their efforts.”

With the expansion of the rankings to include the 500 largest international companies, some interesting regional trends emerged. Among the most noteworthy is the higher level of disclosure among European companies, relative to their North American peers. European companies account for 65 per cent of the top 100 disclosure scores, compared to 19 per cent for North American companies and 10 per cent for Asia-Pacific. At the industry level, regional variations include a higher degree of leadership among financial and telecommunications companies in Europe, compared to healthcare companies in the U.S. Technology equipment and information technology and services companies represented the top ranking industries on both lists, accounting for one-third of the U.S. top 100 and one-quarter of the Global top 100.

To view the complete Green Rankings list please visit Newsweek’s website, www.newsweek.com/green.

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About Sustainalytics

Sustainalytics is a leading global provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and analysis for investors and financial institutions. We provide a global perspective, underpinned by nearly 20 years of local experience and expertise in the responsible investment market. Sustainalytics strives to continuously provide high-quality solutions and commits to remain responsive to the current and future needs of our clients. Recently, Sustainalytics was voted Best ESG Research House by IPE/TBLI. Sustainalytics is headquartered in Amsterdam, has offices in Boston, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, Timisoara and Toronto; and has representatives in Brussels and Copenhagen.

Visit our Green Rankings page at http://www.sustainalytics.com/green-rankings-2011.

About Trucost

Trucost was established in 2000, to help companies, investors and governments understand and quantify the environmental impacts of business activities. Over the past 10 years Trucost has collected, researched and validated environmental data from organizations across the world. The result is the world’s most comprehensive data on corporate environmental impacts, covering Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), water, waste, pollutants and natural resource dependency. This enables our clients to access:

• The most efficient approach to measuring GHG emissions and wider environmental impacts across organizations, supply chains and investment portfolios;
• Clear identification of prioritized focus areas for managing environmental risk;
• Validation of source data, including completion of gaps in data which are not currently being tracked or reported on;
• Comparison of environmental performance against peers, sectors and investment benchmarks;
• The ability to create environmentally-oriented investment products.

Find out more: www.trucost.com