For the seventh consecutive year, the Air France-KLM group topped the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) transportation sector that produced an 18.16 per cent overall improvement year-on-year.
Launched in 1999, the DJSI is the first global index to track leading sustainabilitydriven companies based on investment specialist RobecoSAM’s analysis of financially material Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors.
RobecoSAM invites the world’s largest 3,400 corporations from developed and emerging markets to take part in its annual assessment. Th is year it reviewed 85 per cent of those companies’ free fl oat market capitalisation and identified the top scoring corporation in 24 industry groups.
Despite Air France KLM’s continued losses since 2008, the RobecoSAM assessment, based on over 100 financially material criteria, decided the Franco-Dutch group “continues to demonstrate sustainability leadership in the transportation space, building on its long-term commitment to reduce its environmental impact, increase the company’s social value and local development”.
In 2014 Air France-KLM cut fuel consumption by 6.7 per cent by optimising routes and flight paths; decreased hazardous industrial waste by 18 per cent; reduced energy consumption by 10 per cent, and used 3.9 per cent less water compared to the previous year.
RobecoSAM noted the airline group continues to lead the development and commercialisation of bio-fuels, and manages its economic impact by focusing on developing local economies, engaging with local stakeholders and upholding human rights.
Commenting on the RobecoSAM methodology, head of Indices Guido Giese explained: “Over the years the DJSI index family has not only come to be the gold standard for corporate sustainability but has also become a competitive platform where companies receive recognition for their sustainability practices.”
“The Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is a state of the art, in-depth sustainability performance assessment methodology. Th anks to its broad reach, the results of the CSA are one of the leading sources of information on how listed companies around the globe are exercising financially material ESG practices,” he added.
