The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) was established in September 1999 to track the performance of the world’s largest companies that lead the field in terms of corporate sustainability. These companies are assessed by RobecoSAM using the annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA).

For financial investors, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index is the most significant benchmark for measuring the corporate performance of the world’s most sustainable companies. With improvements in all areas, Volkswagen moved into first place, and has been included in the DJSI World and DJSI Europe along with BMW and Fiat.

The experts from RobecoSAM substantiated their decision to award 89 out of a possible 100 points to the top-ranked company by highlighting achievements such as “the great efforts to improve fleet fuel consumption” in the context of the ambitious goals to lower CO₂ emissions, and the binding commitment to sustainability targets in Strategy 2018.

Full marks were awarded to the Volkswagen Group in many areas such as the company’s environmental management system, risk management and positive community engagement.

This distinction is a real milestone on our path towards becoming the leader in green mobility. We will devote all our energy to permanently establishing the Volkswagen Group as the world’s most sustainable automaker.

—Chairman of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn

Coinciding with the new ranking in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the Volkswagen Group has also achieved a significant improvement in the view of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). According to the CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report 2013 which has just been published, the company is now listed in both the CDP Global 500 Climate Performance Leadership Index and the CDP Global 500 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index for the first time. The report analyzes the initiatives of the world’s largest listed companies in addressing countermeasures against climate change.

The classification in Performance Band A with a disclosure score of 99 out of a possible 100 points confirms that the quality of the environmental data published by the Volkswagen Group is recognized as being exemplary. At the same time, the performance data themselves rank among the best.

This year, the Volkswagen Group was one of the signatories to a climate change program which according to the CDP report was initiated by 722 investors with assets of US$87 billion, bringing transparency to a very large volume of information on climate protection measures and thus enabling verification. The Carbon Disclosure Project describes itself as an international, not-for-profit organization providing the only global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information.