The 2012 Sustainability Leaders Final

8/2/2019 The 2012 Sustainability Leaders Final

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Methodology

825 qualified sustainability experts completed the online questionnaire from January 25 toFebruary 10, 2012.

Respondents were drawn from: corporate, government, non-governmental, academic/research,service/media, and other organizations.

Experts surveyed span 76 countries in Asia, Africa / Middle East, Europe, North America, LatinAmerica / Caribbean, Australia / New Zealand, and comprise a highly-experienced respondent

pool:

65 percent have more than ten years of experience working on sustainability issues. 28 percent have five to ten years of experience. 7 percent have three to four years of experience. Respondents with less than three years of sustainability experience have been excluded

from the results.

Notes to Readers:

All figures in the charts and tables in this report are expressed in percentages, unless otherwise

noted. Total percentages may not add to 100 because of rounding.


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Key Findings

Overall perceptions of sustainability leadership declined or stalled across nearly all institutionalactors (e.g. social entrepreneurs, NGOs, businesses, governments) in 2012.

While regional differences are present in the perceived efficacy of these institutional actors, allexperts agree on the relative inability of corporate and government leaders to advancesustainable development.

For the second year in a row, Unilever is the outright corporate sustainability leader. Unileverleveraged a strong reputation among corporate peers and the service/media sector, particularly

in Europe.

Four out of the top five and nine out of the top 13 corporate sustainability leaders are holdoversfrom 2011s sustainability leaders.

Unilever and Patagonia are the only two companies to gain market share in each of the lasttwo years; Meanwhile, GE and Walmart saw significant declines.

A commitment to sustainable values remains the primary reason a company is cited as asustainability leader.


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Overall perceptions of sustainability leadership declined or stalled acrossnearly all institutional actors in 2012; social entrepreneurs continue to be

regarded as most effective

Please rate the overall performance of each of the following types of leaders in advancing the sustainability agenda over

the past year? Please use a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent.

48

43

40

19

17

5

57

40

49

23

24

6

56

40

50

22

20

8

Social entrepreneurs

Leaders in the scientific

community

NGO leaders

Leaders of multilateralorganizations

Corporate leaders

Government leaders

2012

2011

2010


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Social entrepreneurs gain their reputation for sustainability leadership frommedia and service sector experts, though with few exceptions, experts are

more likely to identify leadership within their own sectors than in others

Please rate the overall performance of each of the following types of leaders in advancing the sustainability agenda over

the past year? Please use a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent.

Government NGOAcademic /Research

CorporateServiceMedia

Social Entrepreneurs 35 48 48 47 54

Leaders in the scientific community 47 45 52 35 37

NGO leaders 48 46 45 36 33

Leaders of multilateral organizations 18 24 24 15 17

Corporate leaders 12 10 15 30 15

Government leaders 10 5 5 3 4

Excellent (4+5)


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Experts from emerging markets have a more positive view on theperformance of all types of leaders except social entrepreneurs

Please rate the overall performance of each of the following types of leaders in advancing the sustainability agenda overthe past year? Please use a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent.

51

41

37

17

17

4

48

40

43

15

18

3

45

55

48

34

21

5

Social entrepreneurs

Leaders in the scientificcommunity

NGO leaders

Leaders of multilateralorganizations

Corporate leaders

Government leaders

Europe

North America

Emerging markets*

*Includes Asia, Africa / Middle East, and Latin America / Caribbean


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For the second year in a row, Unilever is seen as the top corporatesustainability leader, while Patagonia breaks into the top five this year

17

10

7

7

7

5

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

Unilever

Interface

GE

Patagonia

Walmart

Marks & Spencer

Natura

Nike

Novo Nordisk

Siemens

Toyota

IBM

Nestl

What specific companies do you think are leaders in integrating sustainability into their business strategy? (OPEN-ENDED)


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Unilever has a significantly stronger reputation among corporate peers andservice/media than among other respondents

Government NGOAcademic /Research

CorporateServiceMedia

Unilever 10 9 12 22 24

Interface 9 8 8 11 12

GE 6 5 6 11 7

Patagonia 9 10 7 8 5

Walmart 9 6 6 7 9

Marks & Spencer 1 3 3 9 7



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The top sustainability leaders in 2012 are largely unchanged from 2011

15

12

12

11

8

5

5

5

4

3

3

Unilever

GE

Interface

Walmart

Marks & Spencer

Natura

Patagonia

Toyota

Novo Nordisk

Co-operative

Shell

17

10

7

7

7

5

4

4

4

4

4

3

3

Unilever

Interface

GE

Patagonia

Walmart

Marks & Spencer

Natura

Nike

Novo Nordisk

Siemens

Toyota

IBM

Nestl

Leadership companiesin 2011 and 2012

New entrants in2012

Leadership companyin 2011


2012 2011


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Unilever and Patagonia have gained market share in each of the last twoyears; meanwhile, GE, and Walmart have seen significant declines

17

10

7

7

7

5

4

4

4

4

4

15

12

12

5

11

8

5

2

4

2

5

5

11

11

3

13

6

3

3

2

2

4

Unilever

Interface

GE

Patagonia

Walmart

Marks & Spencer

Natura

Nike

Novo Nordisk

Siemens

Toyota

2012

2011

2010



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Unilever and Patagonia have gained market share in each of the last twoyears; meanwhile, GE, and Walmart have seen significant declines



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Unilever has a strong reputation among experts in Europe, while Walmartleads in North America and Natura leads in emerging markets

*Includes Asia, Africa / Middle East, and Latin America / Caribbean

23

9

7

6

5

5

4

4

4

4

Unilever

Marks & Spencer

Interface

Novo Nordisk

GE

Siemens

Co-operative

IKEA

Patagonia

Toyota

Europe

16

14

14

13

11

8

6

5

4

4

4

Walmart

Interface

Unilever

Patagonia

GE

Nike

IBM

DuPont

Johnson & Johnson

Starbucks

Toyota

North America

14

13

8

6

6

5

5

4

4

4

4

Natura

Unilever

GE

Patagonia

Walmart

Nedbank

Siemens

Interface

Novo Nordisk

Shell

Toyota

Emerging Markets*



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Experts identify a number of reasons why top companies are regarded assustainability leaders

Why do you think [INSERT COMPANY #1 FROM ABOVE] is a leader in sustainable development? Please enter up to

two responses in the spaces provided.

Sustainable Living Plan brings together

sustainability and business strategy in away unprecedented for a company ofsuch size and impact.

Integrated long-term thinking into their

strategy, and as a result have identifiedthe need for more sustainable behaviorto protect theirs and society's interests.

Challenging business models or at leastattempting to Their radical strategy

change in which they convinceconsumers to consume lessand bringtheir old clothes for repair.

Sustainability is practiced as a moraland values proposition.

Because it focus[es] its own

business on products that havebetter environmental and social

impacts than its competitors.

They are walking the walkbased on the leadership that

Ray Anderson had provided tothem.


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Experts identify a number of reasons why top companies are regarded assustainability leaders



Pushing sustainability through its supplychain It has set out its sustainability

agenda and made it public.

Thought leaders on urban sustainabilityand focusing their core business

competencies on an issue that caneffect change on a grand scale in

collaboration with other actors in

society

Nike has quietly begun focusing onsustainable manufacture of its products,sustainable development of their

products and the conception of asustainable marketplace, in which their

products have a high degree of re-use.

Ecomagination continues to be the

model for making money from "greener"practices.


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A commitment to sustainable values remains the primary reason a companyis cited as a sustainability leader



*Sustainability values integrated/embedded / Ambitious goals/targets/policies / Long-term commitment / Actions/results/walk the talk

**Transparency / Education/engagement/dialogue/stakeholders / Communication/reporting

31

12

11

10

8

8

7

6

6

Commitment to sustainability values*

Transparency/communication**

Sustainable products/services

Integration into core business model

Innovation/R&D

Renewable energy / lowering emissions

Supply chain management

Environmental/waste/water management

Executive leadership has strong SD values


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The sustainability leadership triangle reflects how companies canapproach and demonstrate commitment to sustainability values



*Sustainability values integrated/embedded / Ambitious goals/targets/policies / Long-term commitment / Actions/results/walk the talk

**Transparency / Education/engagement/dialogue/stakeholders / Communication/reporting

31

12

11

10

8

8

7

6

6

Commitment to sustainability values*

Transparency/communication**

Sustainable products/services

Integration into core business model

Innovation/R&D

Renewable energy / lowering emissions

Supply chain management

Environmental/waste/water management

Executive leadership has strong SD values

Vision /Strategy

Integration /Performance

Engagement /Communication


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For more information, contact:

Chris Coulter, [email protected]

GlobeScan Incorporated

65 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 900

Toronto, Canada M4T 2Y3

Toronto: +1 416 962 0707London: +44 20 7253 1450

San Francisco: +1 415 874 3154

www.globescan.com

Jeff Erikson, Senior Vice [email protected]

SustainAbility, Ltd.

1638 R Street NW, Suite 301

Washington, DC 20009

Washington: +1 202 315 4150London: +44 20 7269 6900

www.sustainability.com

February 2012 GlobeScan

The 2012 Sustainability Leaders Final

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