21 January 2016

Sustainability is competition at its very best

Published in Sustainability, Climate change
Acknowledgements

Neste ranks 39 among the Global 100 most sustainable companies

A few years ago, most of the corporate world may still have treated sustainability as a cost or hygiene factor. These days, expectations on good corporate behavior have increased and sustainability is seen as a fundamental part of business operations. Forward-minded companies see sustainability as a guarantee for long-term profitability and even as an opportunity to drive brand and business. 

Neste’s new vision of creating responsible choices every day is exactly about this. Doing the right thing and choosing responsible solutions should not be made difficult – it should be a great business decision.

It is that time of the year again, when accountants and analysts are working around the clock and crunching numbers to close last year’s books, and come up with what we see as the result below the line. But pure financial profit has ceased to be the only result of interest, or indeed even the most important result, for many companies.
Simo Honkanen, Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Public Affairs

Proof of this is beginning to mount up. Last year, progressive companies like Google and UPS chose to partner with Neste and use renewable advanced biofuels. Cities like Oakland and San Francisco followed suit. Boeing is running extensive tests in order to create a true breakthrough of renewable fuels in aviation, while the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee decided to run Super Bowl City’s generators on advanced biofuels to provide a more sustainable spectacle with cleaner air. And these are just a few of the organisations Neste has partnered with. Corporate support for ambitious climate targets was a strong factor in achieving the Paris climate agreement.

This year, Neste ranks 39 amongst the Global 100 most sustainable companies, and has now made the list every year for the last decade. The estimates of how much CO2 emissions are being cut, thanks to Neste’s products, run well above 5 million tons.

The methodology for calculating sustainability is a fascinating subject, and arguably far more open to interpretation than, say, the financial results of a company. But it is very important that analysis like this is done and developed further all the time. It is also important that we move from mere environmental indexes to more comprehensive studies that take into consideration social and economic aspects too. 

While more and more companies begin to understand how sustainability affects their business, the competition to be ranked among the top most sustainable companies is consequently getting more difficult with each passing year – and this is a good thing. This is a competition, where being part of the race truly is the most important thing. Neste is committed to being more sustainable every year. If we achieve this and are among the top 100 global sustainability leaders, well, wouldn’t that be the perfect outcome?

Thanks to all of our employees and customers for creating and making responsible choices in 2015.

Simo Honkanen, 
Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Public Affairs
Neste