The list includes Ricoh, Kodak, HP, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan-based Toppan Printing Company, and BASF AG, which supplies the packaging industry.

Competition for a position in the hundred is fierce, with rigorous testing of 1,800 companies' abilities to manage environmental, social and governance. A third of last year's names were replaced in 2008.

Members of this year's Global 100 were recognised at the Davos World Economic Forum at a private dinner hosted by Corporate Knights magazine and investment advisory firm Innovest.

The dinner discussion explored the potential opportunities for sovereign wealth funds (government-owned financial assets) to invest more money in clean industries. These funds controlled $3 trillion (£1.5tn) last year and this is expected to grow to $12tn by 2012.

Toby Heaps, co-founder and editor of Corporate Knights, said: "Sovereign funds from Oslo to Abu Dhabi to Moscow present a unique opportunity to transform the profits from the high carbon economy of coal and oil and pave the way to the low-carbon economy powered by renewable energy. The Global 100 companies are excellent partners to help make it happen."

Matthew Kiernan, chief executive of Innovest, said: "As global investors become increasingly concerned about economic prospects for 2008, we believe that the Global 100 will be particularly well positioned to weather the storm and deliver superior value to investors."