Stock photo by Vecteezy
 

In accordance with the Paris Agreement, businesses representing 40% of the global stock market have now committed to science-based targets for lowering their greenhouse gas emissions. 

More than all 1.4 billion cars on the road combined, deforestation is responsible for 11% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. 

The rate at which we invest—not divest—poses the biggest threat to achieving 1.5 degrees. For every $1 spent on sustaining fossil fuels until we can phase them out by the end of this decade, we need to invest at least $4 in clean energy.

Bloomberg analysis indicates that in 2022, the world's investments in the transition to clean energy will total US$1.1 trillion. This sum was about equivalent to the sum spent on the production of fossil fuels in the same year.

The Clean200 is a list of the 200 largest corporations from 35 different nations that are leading this shift. 

The top 6,720 global companies were narrowed down to the Clean200 this year based on a strict evaluation of how much money each generates from goods and services that adhere to the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Taxonomy. They also made sure that their operations did not fundamentally violate any important standards for socially conscious investors, such as being a company flagged by As You Sow's Invest Your Values platform, which identifies fossil fuel companies.

A dollar invested in this set in 2006 would be worth more than $7 today. That compares to $2 for an index of fossil fuel majors (CU200) and $3 for the S&P1200.

It is no longer true that those who invest in renewable energy must forego returns. Profitable clean energy opportunities abound.

THE CLEAN200™ METHODOLOGY

The largest 200 publicly traded corporations, measured by clean revenue, make up the Clean200. Corporate Knights and As You Sow calculated the ranking at the beginning. 

Based on their clean revenues in US dollars, the Clean200 firms are rated. The revenue of a corporation is evaluated using criteria outlined in the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Taxonomy to create the data set.

Negative screens are used in the Clean200. It does not include any oil and gas companies, utilities that get less than half of their energy from renewable sources, the top 100 coal and oil and gas companies based on reserves, utilities that use mostly fossil fuels, pipeline, and oil-field services companies, and other businesses connected to fossil fuels.

The Top 100 arms-producing and military services list of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), along with producers of cluster munitions, nuclear weapons, and civilian firearms who have passed the As You Sow's Weapon Free Funds screening process, are also excluded from the Clean200.

Additionally, producers of palm oil, paper/pulp, rubber, timber, cattle, and soy that have been vetted by As You Sow's Deforestation Free Funds are not included in the Clean200, as are businesses that employ child labor or forced labor, manufacture harmful pesticides, or participate in unfavorable climate lobbying. 

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