Channel NewsAsia announces top performing Asian companies in 2015 Sustainability Ranking

The ranking identifies the top 100 companies in the region with the highest sustainability performance, based on a broad range of environmental, social and governance indicators.
Channel NewsAsia 7 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE: Regional broadcaster Channel NewsAsia and its partners, CSR Asia and Sustainalytics, announced on Wednesday (Oct 7) the list of top performing Asian companies for the 2015 Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking. The exclusive ranking, launched at the CSR Asia Summit held at the Royale Chulan Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, rates the corporate sustainability performance of businesses in Asia.

The Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking identifies the top 100 companies in the region with the highest sustainability performance, based on a broad range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators. The ranking provides investors and consumers with insights into corporate sustainability practices, and aims to provide businesses with a way to benchmark their performance against other regional businesses.

Based on specific ESG indicators and methodology developed by Sustainalytics, a leading provider of ESG and corporate governance ratings and research, the ranking highlights the overall top 20 companies as well as the top three businesses per country. The territories covered are China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and new for 2015 – Japan.

Ms Debra Soon, Head of MediaCorp’s News and Premier, said: “Channel NewsAsia believes in promoting excellence in Asia, in all fields. With this annual ranking, we celebrate business excellence, the need to set global standards for what we do and are associated with, and to constantly strive to improve. Sustainability and corporate responsibility are important themes as Asia progresses; we cannot be content to just celebrate financial success in businesses, we must strive for better corporate practices and help Asian companies benchmark themselves against the finest and adopt best practices.”

“Sustainalytics is delighted to support the Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking, and we applaud this year’s top performing companies for their sustainability efforts,” said Sustainalytics’ CEO Michael Jantzi. “We believe this initiative plays a critical role in helping to raise awareness of sustainability best practices in the Asia-Pacific region, and hope the ranking will inspire more companies to embed sustainable practices in their business operations.”

Dr Richard Welford, Chairman of CSR Asia, said: “The Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking allows companies to assess how their sustainability performance compares with other businesses in the region. Demonstrating the social and environmental responsibility of a company is becoming increasingly important for investors and consumers alike – and companies that don’t feature should be asking themselves if this may affect their competitive advantage.”

2015 CHANNEL NEWSASIA SUSTAINABILITY RANKING

Wipro has emerged at the top of the ranking for its strong corporate governance and ESG practices. The company has a chief sustainability officer and a detailed sustainability strategy to address risks and opportunities on both environmental and social fronts.

United Microelectronics is ranked second for demonstrating a robust water risk management programme, followed by Tech Mahindra for its SMART (Skills-for-Market-Training) and SMART+ (for persons with disabilities) programmes, which encourage and facilitate employment opportunities for youth from marginalised communities.

For the full list of the top 100 companies, visit http://sustainability-ranking.channelnewsasia.com.

The ranking was unveiled at the CSR Asia Summit, one of the largest CSR conferences in the region. The annual summit brings together a unique mix of business, government and civil society stakeholders to address pressing concerns and understand important emerging trends. The focus of the summit this year is sustainable business strategies that bring shared value to business, community and society.

During the two-day summit, Chloe Cho, Channel NewsAsia’s Presenter and Executive Producer, will be co-moderating two forums. The panel discussions will delve into the value of the ranking, how companies can get on the index as a measure of their corporate sustainability, and the crucial role inclusive business plays in contributing to economic and social development.

- CNA/cy