The Volkswagen Group has been included in the new “Global Compact 100” stock index, an index produced by the UN.
The index lists 100 companies with especially responsible management who also demonstrate sound profitability. The UN Global Compact business initiative, consisting of 8,000 companies from 145 countries, stated that the 100 members of the index had demonstrated better financial performance than the global stock market, reflected by the FTSE All World index, last year with a return on capital of 26.4 percent.
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Hans Dieter Pötsch, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft responsible for finance and controlling, said: “We are pleased at this further recognition of our consistent orientation towards economic, environmental and social sustainability. Following our top position in the renowned Dow Jones Sustainability Index, our inclusion in the Global Compact 100 is further confirmation that Volkswagen is making good progress on the way to becoming the world’s most sustainable automaker.”
The GC 100 index has been developed and launched by the UN Global Compact together with the Sustainalytics consultancy firm. The Global Compact is an initiative of companies who undertake to orient their business processes towards 10 universal principles of the United Nations in the fields of human rights, working conditions, environmental protection and anti-corruption. The special achievements of companies in realizing the goals of the Global Compact are assessed. Companies must have belonged to the Global Compact for at least one year and must be included in key global stock market indices. They must also have recorded a profit before tax in the past three years.
On the occasion of the initial presentation of the index, the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Georg Kell, emphasized: “Although the development of the GC 100 cannot be seen as clear proof of a causal relationship between sustainability-oriented business processes and developments in stock prices, it still seems to be an exciting correlation. In addition, the results could be interpreted as indicating that successful efforts in the field of sustainability lead to investors showing heightened interest in the company and its stocks.”
