Find out the ranking of the best-ranked countries according to ESG criteria
Which countries are the most sustainable in the world in terms of human rights, environment and health? If Finland, Iceland and Norway occupy the podium in the new global risk profile ranking, France is 17th. It sinks mainly because of environmental standards linked to its imported emissions that it does not take into account.
What if countries were also rated on ESG criteria? This is suggested, in a new study published March 8, by Global Risk Profile (GRP), a Swiss company that specializes in the assessment and management of third-party risk. The Duty of Vigilance Act, which obliges large companies to prevent ESG risks at all stages of their value chain, suggests an external analysis by country.explains Novithek Sonia Thorneherr, Head of Research and Development at GRP.
For the fifth edition of this report, the news is rather bad. Overall global sustainability performance is declining “Despite the increasing importance being given to CSR topics and sustainability goals in addition to the implementation of CSR initiatives and binding legislation all over the world”, note the authors of the report. Of the three pillars that allow assessment, namely the environment, human rights and people’s health/safety, the last two remain more or less stable. It’s the first, the environment, which is the catch.
The main reason for this decline in environmental scores: the recovery of the post-lockdown economy, which led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions after a period of calm. On this point, France ranks particularly poorly. It ranks 42nd out of a total of 190 countries. “There are efforts to reduce emissions, but the consumption of products and services is set aside. However, the production of these goods in Asia, especially in China, and the pollution associated with transportation, have a significant impact and are not taken into account.”Sonja Thorneher confirms. “These imported emissions have been forgotten and this is in Europe in general. Our consumption patterns are not adapted to protecting the environment.”. France thus ranks as the 80th largest emitter per inhabitant on Earth, states GRP.
The fact remains that thanks to very good results in the field of health and safety of people (5th place), France managed to climb to 17th place in the general classification of this ESG result, behind Belgium and the Netherlands. The podium, as in previous years, was occupied by three countries from the North: Finland, Iceland and Norway. On the Asian side, both the Chinese and Indian giants fell behind, settling in 118th place for China and 145th for India. Mongolia suffered the most dramatic fall, falling 27 places. “The introduction of measures to control the spread of Covid-19 in Mongolia has revealed major human rights challenges, including freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and treatment of healthcare workers.”note the authors.
To create the ranking, the Swiss company searched 65 databases of nearly two dozen internationally recognized entities such as the World Bank, Word Economic Forum and the World Health Organization. Overall, Europe is the best in the ranking, far ahead of South America and North America.
“Organizer. Social media geek. General communicator. Bacon scholar. Proud pop culture trailblazer.”