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After five years, the world’s largest paint and coating company has reclaimed its bragging rights as the sustainability leader among the world’s chemical companies.
AkzoNobel, also a major specialty chemical manufacturer, has been named “Supersector Leader” for the global chemical industry in the 2012 Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) review.
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| AkzoNobel is one of the world’s largest producers of specialty chemicals. |
Launched in 1999, the DJSI World Index benchmarks the sustainability performance of leading companies based on environmental, social and economic performance, including forward-looking indicators. The index ranks 58 sectors, which it clusters into 19 “Supersectors.”
Crowned, Then Dethroned
Dutch-based AkzoNobel has been in the top three chemical companies in the Supersector rankings for several years, but it has not held the No. 1 position since 2007.
In September 2010, Dow Jones declared AkzoNobel a Supersector leader, only to strip the company of that title two months later after discovering a scoring error that knocked the coatings maker to No. 2.
The new rankings, putting AkzoNobel back on top in the chemical supersector, were announced Thursday (Sept. 13). AkzoNobel said it had earned a total score of 93 in the rating analysis.
‘Sustainability is Business’
“Our first-place ranking and our consistent performance over the last years are clear evidence of how sustainability has been successfully integrated into our global operations,” said Andre Veneman, Sustainability Director. “For us, business is sustainability, and sustainability is business.”
Veneman also acknowledged the contribution made by the company’s employees around the world.
Winners and Losers
The DJSI is based on the results of an annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment by Zurich-based SAM, an investment boutique focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing. Each year, SAM invites the world’s 2,500 largest companies from the 58 sectors to report on their sustainability performance.
This year’s world index totals 340 companies, as 41 companies were added to the list and 41 were deleted. The largest new additions to DJSI World included Microsoft Corp., Canadian National Railway Co., and Target Corp.; the largest companies to fall from the index were IBM Corp., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and United Technologies Corp.
DJSI also publishes indices for Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and other regions.
All changes become effective with the opening of the stock markets on Sept. 24.
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