Nestlé and DSM Among Leaders in DJ Sustainability World Index

Nestlé’s leading positions in all three indices recognise its strong performance against a number of benchmarks that measure the environmental and the social impact of its operations and the transparency of its information disclosure.

Nestlé’s strong policies and transparent reporting in the area of environmental sustainability - including its climate change mitigation activities, water management practices and raw material sourcing - led it to achieving 97% in the ‘environment dimension’ of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the best score in the industry.
 

The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is based on an analysis of companies’ economic, environmental and social performance, including areas such as corporate governance, climate strategy, supply chain standards and labour practices.

 

Initiatives such as switching from long-distance road transportation to rail or short-sea shipping in Europe, opting for wind power to supply energy to its factories in Mexico, and installing wood-fired boilers at factories in France, have all helped Nestlé to maintain its position in the CDP rankings for the second year running.

The CDP indices measure the performance of the top 500 companies in the FTSE Global Equity Index in terms of their efforts to cut carbon emissions, as well as the transparency of the information they disclose.

 

Since 2002 Nestlé has managed to halve the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its factories per tonne of product, by continuing to improve energy efficiency, switching to cleaner fuels and investing in renewable sources.

 

Earlier this year the company announced its commitment to reducing direct GHG emissions per tonne of product by more than a third again by 2015, compared to 2005 levels.

 

It also emerged that Royal DSM, is once again amongst the leaders in the chemical industry sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Since 2004 DSM has four times ranked among the very top leaders in the sector and has six times held the worldwide sustainability leader position in the Materials industry group (previously named Chemicals supersector).

 

Feike Sijbesma, CEO and Chairman of the DSM Managing Board, said: “We are very proud to once again be amongst the leaders in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. At DSM, sustainability has evolved beyond compliance or corporate social responsibility. For several years now, it has been a business driver based on our core values, contributing to our mission to create brighter lives for people today and generations to come. By integrating sustainability into how we do business and by providing products and solutions that positively contribute to solutions to the world’s current and future challenges, we are creating value for all stakeholders.”

 

DSM launched some major ECO+ products in H1 2013. This increased the share of ECO+ solutions in its Innovation pipeline to 93% in H1 2013, which is above the 2015 aspiration of 80%. The share of ECO+ products in DSM’s running business portfolio was 41% in the first half of 2013, well on track towards the 2015 aspiration of 50%.

 

Earlier this year DSM announced plans to help provide effective nutrition interventions to 50 million beneficiaries (pregnant or lactating women, children under the age of 2) per year by 2020. This commitment is part of DSM’s endorsement of the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact, which aims to provide 500 million beneficiaries with effective nutrition interventions by 2020.

 

At the 2013 World Economic Forum in Davos, DSM and the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) signed an agreement to extend their existing partnership for three years (to 2015) to combat hidden hunger and malnutrition in the developing world. DSM and World Vision, a global development organization, also announced an ambitious partnership this year.