BMW, Norsk Hydro among the world’s most sustainable companies

Citation

(2008), "BMW, Norsk Hydro among the world’s most sustainable companies", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 19 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2008.08319bab.004

BMW, Norsk Hydro among the world’s most sustainable companies

In the ninth annual survey of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Norwegian aluminium company Norsk Hydro took the overall top score, while BMW topped the automotive index for the third year running. The survey has been conducted every year since 1999 by the Zurich-based SAM Group, and evaluates the companies in 18 supersectors within the Dow Jones and STOXX classifications. BMW announced its results yesterday, saying that it is the only company in the automotive sector to have made the sustainability indexes every year since their creation.

Norsk Hydro, Norway’s largest publicly-traded industrial company, scored very high across the three dimensions of the survey: economic, environmental and social dimensions are taken into account in the ranking. The report cites Norsk Hydro’s “excellent risk management and compliance systems” as reasons for its success in the survey, and cites the company’s smelter in Sunndal, Norway, as an example of how innovation can improve energy use and lower emissions.

BMW was recognized for a range of achievements, including its efficiency enhancements and its steady work on developing hybrid technologies. Although the report notes that BMW’s focus on the premium auto market results in “rather high” CO2 emissions, the company’s commitments to lower its overall footprint have offset the emissions of its high-end cars.