Revealed: The world's most sustainable companies

Ørsted reportedly provides energy to 12 million people through its wind farms (Credit: Ap/ Matt Young)

Almost half of the world's most sustainable companies are from Europe and the top two are from Denmark, according to a list of the top 100 from Corporate Knights, a Canada-based research group.

The group considered the merits of 7,300 companies, and placed 49 from Europe in the top tier, down from 53 in last year's list.

This year, Ørsted, a Denmark-based renewable energy company, was listed as the world's most sustainable company. The ranking reflects a decade-long transition in which Ørsted went from being dependent on fossil fuels for the vast majority of its energy needs to marginally dependent.

In 2006, Ørsted was getting 85 percent of its energy from fossil fuels. In 2018, that number was only 25 percent. The rest was from "green energy" sources, according to the company's website.

Ørsted has also reduced its carbon emissions from 18.3 tons in 2006 to 3.5 tons in 2018. It intends to become carbon neutral by 2025, 25 years before the EU's carbon-neutral target.

Number of companies in the sustainable top 100, according to Corporate Knights.

"Ørsted decided to change its business model a decade ago, realising that having fossil fuels as its core business would not be sustainable in the long term,” the company said in a statement.

Ørsted's CEO Henrik Poulsen noted: "Ørsted has become a sustainable and profitable business by making green energy deployment the keystone of our business strategy.

He added: "Companies that do not take action now to decarbonize run the risk of seeing their business models come under pressure in the future.”

The company has moved up dramatically in Corporate Knights' ranking. In 2018, it was listed as the world's 17th most sustainable company. It moved up to the fourth most sustainable company in 2019, before taking the top spot this year.

The second most sustainable company, Chr. Hansen, a bioscience company, is also from Denmark. It was the top ranked company in 2019.

Chr. Hansen has announced plans to rely solely on green energy by April 2020, provided by two solar parks. "We are grateful for the reinforcement of our position at the top of the world's most sustainable companies," Chr. Hansen's CEO, Mauricio Graber, said.

He added: "The time is now for individuals, corporations and governments to work together and take action.”

A company's position on Corporate Knights' list is dependent on the "percentage of total revenue derived from products and services that are categorized as 'clean,' according to its methodology. Companies also have to be publicly listed to qualify and have a minimum revenue of $1 billion.

The list is announced yearly at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.