Orsted, along with Vestas and Tesla, have made it into Corporate Knights’ 2019 index of the 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.
Companies in the energy, renewables and energy storage sectors together make up 10-15% of this year’s index.
At number four, Orsted is the most sustainable energy company in this year’s list.
Others include Italian energy company ERG at 16, Vestas at 34, and Schneider Electric at 60.
Spain’s Iberdrola and Acciona were placed 61 and 62 respectively.
Electric vehicle and energy storage company Tesla was ranked 69.
Companies in the index surpassed more than 7000 billion-dollar companies to hold a place in the rankings.
According to Corporate Knights, Global 100 companies pay more taxes and are greener too.
They 100 have double the carbon productivity, at a weighted average of $238,000 in revenue per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions versus $157,000 for MSCI’s All Country World Index (ACWI).
They also derive much more of their revenues from clean – positive green or social impact – goods and services (26% of total revenues versus 9%).
According to Corporate Knights, Orsted performs particularly well in the ranking because a high share of the company’s revenues is earned from products or services that have environmental or well-defined social benefits.
The companies in Corporate Knights’ index also have better governance than their peers plus a lower chief executive-to-average-worker pay ratio than MSCI’s ACWI, an important measure in an age of increasing income inequality and growing concern about it.
They also have more women on their boards and are more likely, by some distance, to have a link between sustainability measures and executive pay.