The results of the annual review by the Swiss sustainability rating agency RobecoSAM confirm the presence of large Italian companies in the prestigious ranking of Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, which evaluates over 2000 companies in the world decreeing the champions of environmental sustainability.
The Italian companies awarded globally are: Pirelli, Intesa Sanpaolo, Unicredit, Finmeccanica, Eni, Telecom Italia, Atlantia, Snam, Terna (which with 97/100 is positioned at the highest level in the Electric Utilities sector) and Enel, as well as the latter's Spanish subsidiary Endesa and FCA (which scored 87/100 compared to an average of 54/100 for automotive companies) and Cnh Industrial.
A note announcing the revision of these sustainability indices also highlights the most important exits and the largest entries in the global basket Dow Jones Sustainability World Index: Cisco Systems Inc, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Adobe Systems Inc and Intel Corp, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, British American Tobacco PLC exit instead.
The commentary on this year's data highlights that the highest scores of the major companies they concerned codes of conduct, corporate governance and environmental management policies and systems. The lowest scores came in the field of operational eco-efficiency, human capital development and "materiality" (a new criterion introduced this year which aims to make sustainability reporting increasingly "concrete").
It highlights the surprising underestimation of the importance of “human capital development” and the lack of ability to link not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively, investments in human capital with tangible business benefits.
The instance that showed the greatest development was that of the sense of "corporate belonging and philanthropy" (+22,09%). The least developed issue was that of indicators on labor practices and human rights (-34,82%), according to analysts this is due to the introduction of new questions in this regard and contact with companies would have shown that this issue arouses the interest of businesses and their willingness to implement inherent policies, but clashes with the lack of instruments suitable for measuring, evaluating, limiting and resolving the risks connected to the sphere of human rights.
