British American Tobacco says that it has maintained its position as industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the 12th year running.
In a note posted on its website, BAT said that the DJSI tracked the economic, environmental and social performance of leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide and were based on the co-operation between Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM, a sustainability investment specialist.
“The DJSI have a double impact,” said Guido Giese, head of indices for RobecoSAM. “They enable investors to integrate sustainability into their portfolios, and at the same time they provide an engagement platform that encourages companies to adopt sustainable best practices. We encourage active participation in our corporate sustainability assessment each year, and this year we were happy to see a 31 percent increase in participation from companies in emerging markets.”
Meanwhile, BAT said that a detailed assessment of a company’s performance covered both general and industry specific criteria, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water use and waste generation, and the integration of sustainability strategies into core businesses.
“Our overall score was 87 percent, consolidating our position as industry leader,” the note said.
“We scored a maximum 100 percent rating in five key categories—risk and crisis management, combating smuggling, environmental policy/management systems, human capital development and responsible marketing policies.
“We exceeded our own business measure target by scoring better than the sector average in all categories, and we also achieved best scores for the industry in 12 of the 19 categories.”
“British American Tobacco was the first tobacco company included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices 12 years ago and we have been included each year since,” said Kingsley Wheaton, group corporate and regulatory affairs director. “This shows that our employees and operations across the group have consistently met the standards required of a sustainable international business.”