What gets measured can be managed – on achieving high performance in sustainability

Nowadays sustainability has become a buzzword. It's hard to find a corporation that doesn`t have sustainability on its agenda. In order to distinguish high performing companies from those who entirely use it to attract stakeholders it is becoming more important in the future to find new metrics. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), launched in 2000 in the UK to accelerate solutions to climate change by putting relevant information at the heart of business, policy and investment decisions, is a first step in the right direction. The organization has around 3,000 members in 60 countries and requests carbon and climate change information from the world`s biggest economies and corporations. To highlight the companies that provide the most comprehensive responses to the CDP information request The Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index has been developed. The main objective of this index is to identify leaders and inspire other companies to participate and commit to full carbon disclosure.

Within The Nordic Region which includes companies based in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark the overall response rate in 2010 was generally high (75% in Sweden) compared to 59% in the US. This is, in fact, an indication that climate change is an important business concern on the board agenda for most large companies in the Nordic Region, and that it is increasingly considered as an important source of competitive advantage. The top performing company in the Nordic Region in 2010 was Stora Enso with an index of 93 out of 100, followed by Nokia (91) on second place. Globally Siemens is the top performer with a score of 98.

Why are these companies best? Let`s take at look at Stora Enso which is a global paper, packaging and wood products company producing newsprint and book paper, magazine paper, fine paper, consumer board, industrial packaging and wood products. The Group has 27,000 employees and 88 production facilities in more than 35 countries worldwide, and is a publicly traded company listed in Helsinki and Stockholm. Key environmental concerns include the conservation and sustainable use of forests, biodiversity issues, soil protection, and the quality and quantity of water resources. The raw material for the company`s products comes from sustainably managed forests where continuous growth is guaranteed. Growing forests store carbon effectively. Stora Enso traces the origin of all their wood to ensure that it comes from legal and acceptable sources.
Through their R&D work the company has developed recyclable products such as wood-based oven able materials to replace aluminum in food trays, fiber-based DVD covers to replace plastic cases, and prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) elements for walls, ceilings and roofing. In 2009, Stora Enso and Neste Oil jointly inaugurated a test plant making second generation wood-based biodiesel, where opportunities for the commercial production of transport biofuels will be explored.

Siemens, the global top performer in sustainability, generated revenue of around €28 billion in 2010 with products and solutions from its Environmental Portfolio. Their target is to exceed the €40 billion revenue mark with green technologies in 2014. Last year products and solutions from the Environmental Portfolio enabled Siemens customers worldwide to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by a total of around 270 million tons, an amount equal to the total annual CO2 emissions of the megacities Hong Kong, London, New York, Tokyo, Delhi and Singapore. Virtually every Division in the three Sectors Industry, Energy and Healthcare is contributing to the company’s green portfolio. In 2010, the largest individual reductions in CO2 emissions were achieved by highly efficient combined-cycle power plants, wind farms, the retrofitting of existing power plants, energy-efficient lighting systems and eco-friendly trains. Other future growth drivers include, for example, smart grids and their key components.