Sustainable revenue now makes up half of gross revenue for the Global 100 compared to just 5% for the wider benchmark, while sustainable investment shows a similar trend. For every tonne of carbon they produce, Global 100 companies earn 33 times more revenue than ACWI firms.

But while improved productivity scores for carbon, energy, water and other environmental performance indicators are often collateral benefits of underlying megatrends, such as increasing electrification, energy efficiency and digitization, the improvement in sustainable revenues and investments is generally the result of much more deliberate corporate investment policies and strategic decisions, Torrie says. “Very often, there is visionary leadership from the CEO, and the company has a clear view of the way the world is headed and how to get ahead of it.”

That doesn’t mean that corporate sustainability leaders don’t have their challenges, though. In the face of Europe’s energy crisis, the Danish government ordered 2020’s top G100 company, wind giant Ørsted, to postpone the shutdown of three of its power station units that use oil and coal as fuel. “We still believe that we, as a society, must phase out the use of gas, oil, and coal as soon as possible, but we’re in the middle of a European energy crisis, and we will, of course, contribute to ensuring the electricity supply to the best of our ability,” Ørsted said in a statement.

All the while, companies outside the Global 100 are starting to catch up. While the average gender diversity of Global 100 boards inched upward slightly to 34%, that figure shot up from 23% to 32% for the broader universe of more than 6,000 companies analyzed for the Global 100. In racial diversity, there has been little improvement on company boards of directors, but there was a slight improvement in executive teams. The Global 100 and ACWI firms are neck and neck on the ratio of taxes paid, and ACWI firms have a slightly smaller gap between CEO to average worker pay.

A fifth of Global 100 companies are U.S.-based, making it the leading country for members of the index, followed by Canada with 11%. However, as a region, Europe still leads the way with 44%, while Asia Pacific hosts 22% of the ranking’s companies.

The leading sectors remain information technology (20%) and financial services (15%). Among the standout results of the rankings, Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo saw a huge 234% increase in its sustainable revenue ratio thanks to a combination of increased exposure to sustainable social and environmental loans and better disclosure.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, new entrants to the index included a number of pharmaceuticals groups, such as Merck, Pfizer, Novavax and Gilead Sciences. Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO and its compatriot Yadea, which produces electric bicycles, were also notable entrants, along with two companies from Taiwan: bicycle maker Giant and the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. Torrie says the addition of these corporations reflects the improved reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors from companies in the region.