Nordea again in top 100 among the world’s most sustainable corporations

Nordea climbs 16 places in this year’s ranking to number 70 overall, which also positions us as one of the top five sustainable banks in the world and the only Nordic bank in the ranking. Corporate Knights, a specialised media and investment research firm, has analysed 6,914 companies with more than USD 1 billion in revenues as base for the ranking.  

Nordea achieved its position thanks to good performance on revenues generated from what Corporate Knights defines as clean financing activities, our level of board gender diversity and our carbon and energy management. 

“I’m very proud of our journey and the work we’ve done within sustainability. It’s an honour to be once again ranked by Corporate Knights as one of the world's most sustainable companies and also to climb several places in the ranking,” says Frank Vang-Jensen, Nordea President and Group CEO.

Nordea has made a commitment to become a bank with net zero emissions by 2050. To reach this goal, we have set a mid-term objective to reduce carbon emissions across our investment and lending portfolios by 40-50% by 2030 and also to reduce our carbon emissions in our internal operations by more than 50% to achieve a net positive carbon contribution. Based on our experience within active ownership, sustainable investments and financing, we are accelerating our customers' transition through our advisory and offerings. 

First Nordic bank to set intermediate targets for 2030

“Sustainability is an integrated part of our value proposition and Nordea was the first Nordic bank to set intermediate targets for 2030. We are committed to continuing this journey for the benefit of our customers, our business and the future of the societies we operate in,” Frank Vang-Jensen adds.

According to Corporate Knights the top 100 companies derive almost half of their earnings from products or services defined as clean by Corporate Knights, and they also direct around half of their capital expenditures, research and development and acquisitions to clean investments.  

Among the companies Corporate Knights also sees a continued correlation between higher investor returns and strong performance on key environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. The ranking sheds light on the evolvement of ESG priorities and outcomes and on the extent of the gap between leading sustainability performers and their global corporate peers.