Symrise and IFF Among Top 100 Companies on the Climate A List
05 Nov 2015 --- Flavor suppliers Symrise and IFF are among the companies to have been awarded a 100 A rating byThe Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and have been added to the Climate A list. For symrise, this achievement signifies that it leads the energy and materials sector in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), as well as in the German MDAX stock index. As a result, the company is among the Top 100 companies worldwide recognized by CDP in the Climate A list.
Symrise joined the Climate A list on the afternoon of November 4, 2015. The company had improved its rating from 96 B to 100 A. Thus, Symrise AG holds now the status of MDAX index leader in the CDP’s 2015 climate change report and is among the eight best companies in the MDAX this year. Furthermore, Symrise stands out as the leader of the energy & materials sector in the DACH region. This makes Symrise AG one of the TOP 5 companies in this sector within Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
“We congratulate Symrise on its inclusion in the CDP Climate A List and its achievement of the highest CDP climate score: 100 A. Symrise AG has demonstrated outstanding transparency regarding its climate activities to investors and the public. It has also made clear its ambitious strategies, goals and extraordinary measures to combat climate change. Only 113 of more than 2,000 listed companies worldwide were able to gain a position in the CDP Climate A List this year,” said Susan Dreyer, Director of the DACH region, CDP.
CDP Europe is part of the worldwide CDP network, an international non-profit organization. Working with companies and cities, they make available the only global system for measuring, managing and disclosing environmental impact. In the process, CDP collaborates with the most important market participants from public policy, business, and the capital markets – among them 822 institutional investors with total assets of € 86 trillion. Through these collaborations, they offer companies incentives for disclosing and reducing environmental impact and resource consumption. More than 5,500 companies worldwide, including almost 1,800 in Europa, are disclosing environmental information through CDP in 2015. CDP currently has the world’s largest database of primary data on climate change as well as water and forest use. CDP thus enables policymakers to take nature into account when making strategic business, investment and political decisions.
Climate performance is scored by comparing the quality reported to what the management actually achieves. Therefore, it conveys the credibility of a company’s measures and, above all, their effectiveness in adapting to or combating climate change. It also reflects actions taken to increase data validity.
In September 2015, the DQS – the German Society for Management System Certification – awarded Symrise the sustainability prize for sustainable leadership. The certification authority emphasized how Symrise’s corporate strategy has systematically aimed for sustainable growth and a high degree of transparency.
The jury justified its selection as follows, “Symrise AG should be proud of its award for sustainable leadership. It has earned this evaluation through its highly transparent corporate strategy that systematically aims for sustainable growth. The management system is based on the ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 26000, ISO 50001 and SA8000 international standards. All suppliers are evaluated according to the Sedex SMETA criteria. The annual sustainability report is also externally verified.”
In June 2015, Symrise underwent a scheduled review by the prominent international index provider FTSE. In the course of this, the index confirmed Symrise's membership in the FTSE4Good index. FTSE provides financial market participants with security indices that cater to specific investment goals. The FTSE4Good index features securities from companies with top performance in sustainability and corporate governance (ESG). It is highly regarded by ESG investors.
Furthermore, Symrise is once again a cornerstone of the Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe and the Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Global. This particular index recognizes a company’s performance in the area of sustainability. The global index includes 348 companies and is based on annual data. Sustainalytics, the world’s largest independent research service specializing in the analysis of environmental, social and governance data, collects this data.
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) also announced that it was recognized on the CDP Climate “A” List, earning a perfect score of 100 in disclosure and an A in performance for its strategies and actions to mitigate climate change. IFF ranked among the top 5% of the corporations participating in the program. CDP developed this list at the request of approximately 800 of its investor partners who represent more than a third of the world’s vested capital and who are committed to reducing long-term risks to the environment and local economies.
“When it comes to sustainability, we won’t accept the status quo,” said Andreas Fibig, CEO and Chairman, IFF. “This is why it is foundational to our Vision 2020 business strategy, and why we are committed to embedding sustainability throughout our business practices and our corporate culture. This honor confirms we are on the right path in our overall sustainability journey, and we will continue our efforts to reduce carbon emissions across our value chain.”
CDP’s executive chairman and co-founder Paul Dickinson says: “The influence of the corporation is mighty. We congratulate the A List companies that are illuminating the path to a low carbon future through their climate leadership. The momentum of business action on climate change suggests we are reaching a tipping point where companies are poised to achieve their full potential. They need ambitious policy at both a national and international level that will support them in this regard and will catalyze participation from industry at scale.”
