Long-term commitment to sustainability recognised by Dow Jones
The Dow Jones European and World Sustainability Indices (DJSI) cover the environmental, social and governance aspects of responsibility. This year, UPM was the only company in its industry to be listed. Although the company’s total scoring decreased from last year’s 88/100 to 86/100, UPM still scored best in all dimensions, but not for each single topic included in the respective dimension.
UPM’s scoring remained on the previous level in both the Governance and economic, and Social dimensions, while there was a slight decrease in the Environmental dimension. This was mainly due to a drop in environmental management and operational eco-efficiency.
According to Sami Lundgren, VP, Responsibility, UPM places high value on the rating, as it is the longest-running global sustainability benchmark worldwide – and today the key reference point in sustainability.
“There are, of course, various sustainability ratings, but S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) has a long tradition as the most widely recognised investment rating. As an independent opinion on our sustainability performance, the DJSI rating provides proof for investors and a valuable benchmark for us to compare our performance with other industry peers,” Lundgren says.
Industry pioneer
In Lundgren’s view, the CSA questionnaire is especially valuable as it responds to changing times and provides a good overview of the global operating environment. Being included in the listing for already a decade has required a long-term commitment to efforts related to sustainability issues.
“Having a long track record in DJSI verifies our positive development curve and motivates us to further improve our performance. It is also a testament to us making the right choices as an industry frontrunner. If you consider, for example, that we established UPM’s biodiversity programme already over 20 years ago, and now the issue is high on the sustainability agenda,” he points out.
The importance of transparent reporting on environmental, social and governance topics is reflected in the record number of participants in the assessment this year. Over 10,000 companies were invited to participate in DJSI, and over 5,000 eligible for inclusion in the index have already been assessed. The number of companies who answered in the questionnaire – 1,843 – was highest ever increasing 33% from last year.