Recognizing Corporate ESG Leadership

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking began as a way to assess the largest publicly traded companies in the United States based on fundamental environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency.

Since its launch in 1999, the ranking has become increasingly competitive as companies strengthen their ESG disclosures and elevate their performance. At the same time, 3BL has continuously modernized its ranking methodology to keep pace with stakeholder expectations and the rapidly evolving ESG landscape.

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking serves as a valuable benchmark for companies working to improve their ESG transparency and performance. As the global community embarks on a decisive new decade, our hope is that companies step up efforts to achieve the transformational targets laid out in the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals and address social and racial inequities exposed during the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement.

Methodology

3BL develops the 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking in partnership with Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ESG. Once 3BL establishes its methodology, ISS ESG researches relevant data and processes the ranking. All data and information considered for the ranking must be publicly available through corporate websites, financial filings, policies, reports and reputable third-party sources, including CDP, GRI and the U.S. EPA. Companies may verify data and information that was collected by ISS ESG at no cost.

The 2023 methodology considers 184 ESG factors across seven pillars (Climate Change; Employees; Environment; ESG Performance; Governance; Human Rights; Stakeholders and Society) and measures Russell 1000 companies’ performance and transparency on key issues of corporate citizenship and sustainability.

For a list of individual factors and an explanation of year over year changes, please see our 2023 Methodology.

We welcome feedback on the methodology – please complete the contact form at the bottom of this website.

2023 Takeaways

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the #1 Corporate Citizen of 2023 with Accenture, HP Inc., Hasbro & Estee Lauder rounding out the top five. HPE claims the top spot from Owens Corning ending their record setting four years atop the ranking. Read our press release here.

Out of the 25 industries assessed, companies from 23 were in the top 100 (see FAQs for industry details).

• The Materials industry group had the most representation in this year’s ranking, with 15 companies placing within the top 100.
• The second most represented industry is Capital Goods, having placed 13 companies in the ranking.
• This year’s highest performing industry is the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector, which placed four companies within the top 100, two of which were in the top 3!
• There were no companies listed from either the Energy or Media & Entertainment industries in 2023.

Since 2009, only 12 companies have made the ranking each year: Abbott, Accenture, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Cisco, Colgate-Palmolive, Gap, General Mills, Intel, Microsoft, Nike, PepsiCo, and Weyerhaeuser. We applaud these firms for their consistency over the years and for their commitment to the transparent disclosure of sustainability data and information.

Finally, Adobe was the only company awarded a “Green Flag” bonus by our partners at InfluenceMap (https://influencemap.org/) for using their influence and lobbying efforts in support of Paris Climate Agreement-aligned policies.