Danone says that the announcement, following measurement over 100 separate indicators and a FTSE Advisory Committee decision, recognizes the company’s focus on doing business in a sustainable way.
Launched in 2001, the FTSE4Good Index offers a series of benchmarks and tradeable indices to responsible investors. Inclusion in the Index is based upon independently-reviewed standards of:
- environmental commitments (including climate change, water use, pollution and resources)
- social practices (including human rights, labor standards and health and safety)
- governance (including risk management, corporate governance, anti-corruption)
Extra criteria for breast-milk substitutes
In addition to meeting the inclusion criteria on these ESG practices, companies involved in the manufacturing of breast-milk substitutes (BMS) need to meet additional sector-specific marketing indicators.
“For Danone, business is about value creation, in a way which goes beyond any traditional economic definition,” said Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber.
“Our belief is that long term, sustainable growth comes only through focusing on the benefits we can bring to the people, the cultures and the communities with whom we work. We have a special responsibility, as expressed in our Manifesto, to help and support people in adopting healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices.”
Danone will enter the FTSE4Good Index Series on June 20, 2016, following the Index Review that was announced on June 6, 2016.