UNEP recognises Novo Nordisk as global leader
- December 2000
In their first Global Survey on Sustainability Reporting, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and SustainAbility, the London-based think tank and consultancy, recognise Novo Nordisk as a winner, together with BAA, the British Airport Administration.
The other top 10 companies in the survey are the Co-operative Bank, British Telecom, BP Amoco, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, WMC, ESAB, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Volkswagen Group, and ING Group. The Body Shop, Unilever, The Henkel Group, Procter & Gamble, and Dow Chemicals are among the top 50.
This benchmark tool has been developed to reflect developments and innovations - first in corporate environmental and now in sustainability reporting. The survey assesses how well companies' communication about sustainability issues allows readers to make judgements about their commitments, management quality, and performance towards sustainable development.
Senior Vice President Lise Kingo, Stakeholder Relations, states, "We are very proud to have received this recognition. It is an achievement thanks to the enthusiasm and input from colleagues around the world, and the commitment from top management in Novo Nordisk."
In the benchmark report from SustainAbility on Novo Nordisk's Environmental and Social Report 1999, 'Putting Values into Action', it is noted that the report in many respects represents best practice among the reports reviewed. In particular, the clear and comprehensive discussion of the importance of stakeholder engagement activities and their implication for the company's corporate governance is deemed quite unique and was found to add great value. Furthermore, the report gives credit to Novo Nordisk's deep and rich discussion of issues that cut across the Triple Bottom Line and for providing additional information on its website.
The report also recommends areas for improvement that need to be addressed in future reporting, such as more challenging and critical stakeholder comments, greater transparency about modern biotech activities, and more inclusion of financial data. These issues will be considered in the report for 2000, now in progress.
