The Sustainability Yearbook 2011

Overview

This year’s edition of The Sustainability Yearbook, published jointly by SAM and Pricewaterhouse - Coopers (PwC), explores some of the key drivers behind the water challenge.

A joint report on environmental externalities published by the UNEP Finance Initiative, the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and Trucost estimates that water pollution and water scarcity cost the global economy USD 1.2 trillion in 2008. By 2050, this sum is expected to reach USD 4.7 trillion, or 3% of global GDP.

The growing momentum of initiatives such as the CEO Water Mandate and CDP Water Disclosure, both of which SAM has endorsed, testifies to the increasing awareness of the economic importance of managing water-related risks.

This edition presents three perspectives on managing water-related risks. PwC explains why water risk management should be an integral part of corporate strategy. SAM outlines preliminary findings from its evaluation of companies' water risk management approaches based on the newly introduced water-related risk management criterion in SAM's Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). José Lopez, Executive Vice President of Operations at Nestlé, explains how his company manages its water-related risks.

Water-related risk is one of many other material sustainability criteria. Therefore, SAM continually works to enhance its CSA methodology and in 2010 also implementedimprovements in such areas as corporate citizenship/ philanthropy, customer relationship management as well as occupational health&safety. Building on an annual analysis of the sustainability performance of more than 2,000 companies, the CSA forms the basis for the construction of the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) as well as for SAM's investment strategies and Robeco's responsible investing practices across its product range.

The Sustainability Yearbook provides an overview of the results of the 12th SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which determines the companies that are included in this reference guide to the world's sustainability leaders. The leading companies in 58 sectors are classified into three categories - SAM Gold Class, SAM Silver Class and SAM Bronze Class - with special status
awarded to Sector Leaders and Sector Movers.

SAM is pleased to see a steady increase in the partici - pation rate in its assessment as well as in the number of awarded companies, which we believe clearly reflects companies' growing awareness of the importance of corporate sustainability management.

We hope you find this guide a useful tool offering fresh insights into one of the major trends of our time.