BMW and Fiat score sustainability gongs

The press releases are pouring forth every direction across the industrial landscape in response to the annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

In the auto industry, the big winners were Fiat and particularly BMW, which has once again come up as overall industry leader, making this the sixth consecutive year the Bavarian has topped the rankings as the world's most sustainable auto maker. 

BMW rated special mention as the only auto company to make the cut for the 19-strong Supersector, in which it's now been included for six years.

Meanwhile Fiat has, in the words of its release, "[for] the second consecutive year... been recognized as an environmental sustainability leader with its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and Europe indexes, receiving a score of 93/100 compared to an average of 70/100..."

In its passenger vehicles, these include the MultiAir and MultiJet II technologies, which have palpably reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the company's petrol and diesel engines respectively, and the two-cylinder TwinAir that has cut CO2 emissions by around 30 per cent over similar performing fours. Its Iveco truck and commercial vehicle lineup is compliant end-to-end with the Euro 5 Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicles (EEV) emissions standard, while its passenger car plants worldwide cut production process per-vehicle CO2 emissions by 12.6 per cent and water consumption per vehicle produced by 9.7 per cent year-on-year.

Selection criteria were set and participants evaluated by Zurich-based sustainable investment specialist SAM Group (it stands for Sustainable Asset Management). SAM leaves few stones unturned throughout the evaluation process, giving equal weight to a broad diversity of indicators traversing economic, environmental and social factors contributing towards overall sustainability.

Economic and corporate elements include corporate governance, risk management, code of conduct, brand management and innovation processes. Environmental considerations include environmental reporting, policy and management systems, responsibility of product management, energy efficiency and strategies addressing climate change and emissions reduction. Social factors cover development and management of human capital, local community activities, OH&S, supplier management and overall stakeholder engagement policies.

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