This annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment, conducted by investment specialist RobecoSAM, is based on analysis of the economic, environmental and social performance of 3,000 of ‘the world's leading companies’, with 333 making it onto the 2013/2014’s list.
In addition to being featured in both the European and World indices two years in a row, UPM has also been named the industry leader in environmental sustainability in its sector. It was this year one of two Paper and Forest Products companies to make it onto the DJSI World. The other is Brazilian pulp and paper company Fibria Celulose who was named as industry leader in this sector.
"UPM’s Biofore business strategy strongly promotes economic, social, and environmental sustainability throughout its business operations. During the past year we have focused especially on resource efficiency – creating more with less is a key driver for us. In the area of social responsibility, we have focused on work safety. UPM’s global Lost Time Accident Frequency (LTAF) has decreased by 60% in two years", said vice president for UPM Environment, Päivi Salpakivi-Salomaa.
She added: "UPM is continuously developing its operations to reduce its environmental footprint. All of UPM’s businesses have adopted ecodesign in their product development processes, meaning that the environmental aspects, including water, waste, raw-materials, biodiversity and climate change impacts, are systematically integrated into product design at an early stage and cover the entire lifecycle."
Guido Giese, head of indices at RobecoSAM, said: "The DJSI have a double impact. They enable investors to integrate sustainability into their portfolios and at the same time they provide an engagement platform that encourages companies to adopt sustainable best practices. We encourage active participation in our Corporate Sustainability Assessment each year and this year we were happy to see a 31% increase in participation from companies in emerging markets."
UPM also produces over 200 grades of paper certified with the EU Ecolabel, and recently held a day aimed at educating printers, publishers and other paper merchants of the benefits of this accreditation.
Speaking at the day, which also included talks from industry figures including the BPIF’s Dale Wallis and Two Sides’ Bob Latham, Tom Hallam, senior specialist, environmental sales support, at UPM said: "The EU EcoLabel is the only environmental label that covers the whole of the paper’s lifecycle. So this is further testament to UPM’s commitment to the environment."
