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Vodafone tops 2008 global Accountability Rating
14/11/2008

Vodafone is the most accountable of the world's largest companies, according to the 2008 Accountability Rating, published today.

This annual assessment of the accountability of the world's 100 largest corporations (the G-100), compiled by international think-tank AccountAbility and consultancy Csrnetwork, with support from data provider Asset4, shows that Vodafone has regained top spot, the position it occupied in 2006.

A wide range of initiatives from mobile based banking and education for the rural poor to developing e-waste facilities in emerging markets demonstrate that it is embedding responsible business practices in a wide range of operations.

Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Group Plc, says: "Conducting business in a responsible manner is essential to the long-term commercial success of every business."

The top 10 companies in the 2008 Rating are: 1) Vodafone; 2) General Electric; 3) HSBC; 4) France Telecom; 5) HBOS; 6) Nokia; 7) EDF; 8) GDF Suez; 9) BP; 10) Royal Dutch/Shell.

The results in detail

Now in its fifth year, the Accountability Rating measures the extent to which companies build responsible practices into the way they do business, and their impact on the economies, societies and environments in which they operate. It does this through assessing information made available by the companies themselves across four domains: strategy, governance and management, engagement and operational performance.

Regional Accountability Ratings are also being produced for Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Portugal, Russia and Turkey.

Broader definition of responsibility

This year's global results show that almost all the companies in the G-100 have broadened their definition of responsibility. Many of them are not just recognising and mitigating risks, they are also looking at how they can evolve existing products and services, or create new ones, to address major social and environmental challenges like human rights and climate change.

Mark Line, director of Csrnetwork says: "Overall, companies have not just started taking the carbon agenda much more seriously, but are also taking a closer look at their social impacts. The average company now recognises the majority of its most substantial social and environmental risks and opportunities. The challenge now is to build the systems and solutions that allow them to turn this recognition into business benefits."

Other key findings of the 2008 Accountability Rating are:

  • Companies headquartered in Europe are the most accountable, with Asian companies retaining a slight lead over the 31 companies based in the United States.
  • French companies are challenging the British leadership in corporate responsibility. There are now four British (average Rating score 59) and three French companies (average Rating score 55) in the top ten, together with one each from the US, Finland and Holland.
  • Most companies within the G-100 (78%) are now disclosing targets for their environmental performance. However, a little less than half are actually saying when they plan to achieve these targets.
  • 75% of companies are reporting on their carbon emissions, but despite major public awareness campaigns, just 43% report a decrease in these emissions.
  • Financial companies including HSBC and Barclays are showing continued improvement in the manner in which they discuss environmental, ethical and social responsibility aspects of their core business strategy. However, as the case of HBOS (5th) demonstrates, a strong performance on the Accountability Rating does not necessarily ensure companies have managed to protect themselves against the credit crunch. Companies are undertaking a range of new efforts to adopt more responsible lending policies, but these would have had to be taken more seriously years ago in order to avoid the credit crunch.
  • With three companies in the top ten, the telecommunications sector is clearly looking to seize the opportunities that would come from bringing large numbers of people into the information age, allowing currently excluded parts of the world's population to benefit from modern communication technology.
  • The retail and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector scores relatively poorly as companies struggle to manage social and environmental issues along their vast supply chains. Although there are significant improvements in performance from companies like Wal-Mart, only Tesco features in the top 25.

Creating value from accountability

Dr Simon Zadek, CEO of AccountAbility, says: "Again this year we see that the world's largest companies are becoming more accountable. There are a lot of small-scale initiatives being started by companies in the G-100. The real challenge lies in how companies can scale-up to find real solutions to societies' major problems like climate change, deficits in human capital and green infrastructure. Those companies that are getting this right are demonstrating that it can be hugely profitable and beneficial for the wider economy."

With the global economic slowdown, companies are likely to look for savings and social and environmental management efforts may find themselves under the microscope. However, the Accountability Rating research confirms that not all accountability initiatives are costly. In fact, many are helping companies reduce their spending and the some are delivernig profitable solutions to social and environmental challenges.

See the Accountability Rating 2008 in full on the Accountability Rating website. If you prefer to see the results in a single document, you can download a free copy of our report Accountability Rating 2008: Key findings (PDF).