73 gold medals in new RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook

The Yearbook showcases the sustainability performance of the world's largest companies using environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. It includes the top 15% per industry, which are awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze Class medals.

The assessment for the 2018 Yearbook looked at 60 industries from 43 different countries. Close to 150,000 documents were examined and over 2.2 million data points were collected on financially material ESG criteria. The Yearbook, publishes every year since 1999, therefore provides a telling picture of every industry in terms of sustainability performance. 

This year, 73 Gold Class, 78 Silver Class and 118 Bronze Class medals were awarded to the evaluated companies. From a regional perspective, the greatest number of companies included in the Yearbook and the most RobecoSAM Gold Class medal winners continue to be located in Europe.

Asides from the medals, RobecoSAM also identifies some of the most important sustainability topics in the Yearbook, and shares them through white papers. This year, three white papers in particular are highlighted.  

• 'Capitalism coming of age: using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s to bridge business strategy and social responsibility' explores how increased public and investor pressure is forcing corporations to change attitudes and methods for conducting philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.
• 'The good, the bad, and the ugly: corporate policy influence under scrutiny in the age of SDGs' offers insights on the importance of corporate influence for providing information and perspective to the policy-making process.
• 'Putting commitment into practice in financial services': an interview with one of Europe's largest financial services providers about its approach to sustainability and CSR initiatives.

Aris Prepoudis, Chief Executive Officer of RobecoSAM, says: "We have entered a period of change where investors, governments, institutions, and companies are rising to face global challenges head-on. As the interest in generating positive impact grows and the ambition to achieve SDGs becomes more widespread, sustainability thinking is not only becoming more sophisticated, but also critical for companies to consider.”

“The companies included in the Sustainability Yearbook 2018 are moving the needle and will help us realize the SDGs. I congratulate them whole heartedly for their achievement and encourage them to continue pushing the boundaries of the status quo toward a more sustainable future."

Access the RobecoSAM Yearbook 2018 here