What it is
Corporate Knights publishes the annual Global 100 ranking of the world's most sustainable corporations, using a data-driven methodology covering clean revenue, clean investment, carbon productivity, water productivity, waste productivity, and diversity. The ranking is released annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos and covers companies with over $1 billion in revenue.
Why we picked this
Most ESG rankings are based on risk management. Corporate Knights measures something different: how much of a company's business model is already aligned with the clean economy. Their clean revenue percentage metric directly answers the question 'is this company part of the solution?' rather than 'does this company manage ESG risks well?'
Key takeaways
- The Global 100 companies generate an average of 53% of revenues from clean sources, compared to 11% for the MSCI All Country World Index.
- Corporate Knights methodology is fully transparent and publicly documented, unlike some ESG rating agencies that treat their methods as proprietary.
- The ranking has been published annually since 2005, providing a 20-year trend line on corporate sustainability leadership.