The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices are offered cooperatively by S&P Dow Jones Indices in the US and RobecoSAM AG in Switzerland, to evaluate the performance of the world's leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.
Each year, about 2,500 companies in 59 industries are evaluated, with only 10% of these companies named to DJSI World.
One company is named Industry Leader for each of the 59 industries and one is also selected as Industry Group Leader from within each of 24 industry groups that represent all 59 industries.
Personal Products champ
In the Personal Products Industry, Kao received top marks for economic initiatives including its strategic innovation management in producing high-value-added products and supply chain management.
The company, responsible for the John Frieda and Molton Brown brands among others, was also recognised for its environmental initiatives such as reducing its environmental impact through Life Cycle Assessment and package development based on the 4Rs (Reduce, Renewable, Reuse, and Recycle).
The DJSI also highlighted its social initiatives, such as human capital development and corporate citizenship activities.
Kao says that having been recognised for a second consecutive year as a sustainability leader, it will continue to work toward achievement of a sustainable society.
Materials leader
In the Materials category, Dutch ingredients supplier AkzoNobel was also named as one of Dow Jones’ leaders.
“This result reinforces our belief that sustainability should sit at the heart of our business strategy,” said CEO Ton Büchner.
“The DJSI is an extremely effective strategic tool for managing sustainability and business performance, and today’s ranking reflects the importance we attach to working closely with customers in order to develop more sustainable solutions.”
AkzoNobel has now been placed in the top three for ten years in a row and says that it aims to generate 20% of its revenue from sustainable solutions by 2020.