Global 100 corporations speed towards sustainable revenue growth

• Three European countries top this year's list, in continuation of strong Western European representation among Global 100.
• Methodology update focuses on sustainable investments and revenues, along with an urgency-driven Sustainable Revenue Momentum Score.
• Global 100 companies outperformed their global peers in financial returns this year.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2026 /CNW/ - Three European companies, two of them power generators, take the podium spots in this year's Global 100 ranking of the world's most sustainable corporations. Using an updated methodology focused on sustainable investments, and sustainable revenues and growth therein, the ranking demonstrates that the world's corporate sustainability leaders delivered superior financial returns in 2025 despite the political backlash against ESG and climate action.

Genoa, Italy-based ERG SpA shot up from 18^th in the 2025 Global 100 ranking to take top spot this year. Despite volatility for European power generators caused by Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine, ERG completed its transformation from oil company to pure-play renewables. It increased its wind and solar output by more than 2,000 gigawatt-hours between 2022 and 2024, while also completing the sale of all its fossil fuel assets.

Copenhagen-based jewelry maker Pandora took second place, reflecting its shift to lab-grown diamonds and 100 per cent recycled silver and gold. Madrid-based EDP Renovaveis SA placed third. Both companies rose significantly from their 2025 rankings (Pandora: 48th; EDP Renovaveis: 38th). Thirty-seven new companies entered the ranking in 2026.

The Global 100 was launched in 2005. The analysis encompasses publicly traded companies with at least US$1B in revenues, subject to exclusionary screens. For the 2026 ranking, companies were assessed on three equally weighted metrics: sustainable investments, sustainable revenues (both defined under the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Taxonomy), and the Sustainable Revenue Momentum Score, which tracks growth in sustainable revenues from 2022 to 2024.

Among the Global 100 companies, roughly 60 per cent of both investments and revenues qualified as sustainable for 2026. In contrast, only 13 per cent of investments and 17 per cent of revenues were sustainable across the full universe of large companies assessed. Sustainable revenues for Global 100 companies are growing on average at double the rate of all their other revenues.

"Focusing on what matters most and on what can be assessed most transparently have been core ranking principles over the more than two decades we've been doing this work," said Corporate Knights CEO Toby Heaps. "This year, we've focused exclusively on what portion of each business is actually making the world more sustainable.

"We put particular emphasis on momentum and speed of improvement, given the growing urgency around not just carbon emissions, but the many ways in which business activity is outstripping our planet's carrying capacity," Heaps noted.

As a group, the Global 100 companies outperformed their global peers in financial returns. Over the one-year period from December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2025, the Mackenzie Corporate Knights Global 100 Index ETF (MCKG) outperformed the broader global equity market, delivering a total return of 18.71%, compared with 15.26% for the MSCI World Index, as tracked by the iShares MSCI World ETF (XWD). Atypically, the Global 100 Index underperformed over the prior two years, likely reflecting elevated interest rates and other temporary factors.

The ranking methodology allocates a fixed number of slots to each of the more than 40 sectors included, based on their relative contributions to the total market capitalization of the Global 100's financial benchmark. Companies are ranked against peers within their sector.

Geographically, the 2026 ranking demonstrates continued dominance of companies from Western Europe – with 37 ranked companies, 15 of which were from the Nordic region. In a counterpoint to the perception of deprioritized sustainability performance, 20 companies from the U.S. made the ranking (2025: 15). Canada continued to punch above its weight with nine ranked companies.

China's 12 ranked companies dominated in vehicle and battery manufacturing. The ranking also includes 15 companies from Türkiye, Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia, four from Australia and New Zealand, and three from the Global South (Brazil and India).

For a full listing of ranked companies, a detailed methodological description and additional contextual information please visit: https://corporateknights.com/rankings/global-100-rankings/2026-global-100/ 

For interview requests and further information: [email protected] +1.416.219.1901

About the Global 100

Since 2005, the Global 100 has been one of the world's most valued and transparent rules-based sustainability ratings that emphasizes the impact of a company's core products and services. It is the best-performing global sustainability index (ticker: CKG100), with more than 10 years of history.

All publicly traded companies with more than US$1 billion in revenue are assessed across three sustainable-economy key performance indicators, including percentage of sustainable investment and percentage of sustainable revenue. Companies engaging in "red flag" activities such as thermal coal, blocking climate policy and deforestation are disqualified.

The Global 100 methodology illuminates the "say–do" gap. Only those companies making sustainable solutions a core part of their business offerings, and allocating meaningful investments to this goal, make the grade. 

About Corporate Knights

Corporate Knights Inc. is an independent media and research company. Its media division publishes the award winning sustainable-economy magazine Corporate Knights, circulated in The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Its research division produces sustainability rankings, research reports and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. Learn more at www.corporateknights.com .

SOURCE Corporate Knights

Toby Heaps, CEO, Corporate Knights, [email protected], +1.416.274.1432