It is Bmw, the well-known German manufacturer of cars and motorcycles, that has been named the most sustainable company of 2016 according to the ranking compiled by Corporate Knights. As it does every year, Corporate Knights, a Canadian research firm specialising in sustainability indices, has drawn up its list of the hundred global companies that have distinguished themselves for their lowest environmental impact.

The results of the research, now in its twelfth edition, were presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Corporate Knights ranking, which is based on data disclosed by companies, assessed more than four thousand companies and is based on twelve indicators, ranging from resource management to management commitment to sustainability, from the ratio between executive pay and average worker salaries to the amount of revenue generated per unit of energy consumed, through to innovation and transparency.

Bmw scored highly thanks to its "efficient use of water resources and energy and reduction of waste", but also for its "responsible approach to tax payments and significant investment in innovation", the report states.

Second place on the podium goes to French technology company Dassault Systemes, while third place is taken by Finnish engineering specialist Outotec. This year, 87 per cent of the companies on the list provided an "economic bonus" to executives who met their sustainability targets.

The United States is the country with the most companies in the ranking, nineteen in total, including Intel, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, and General Mills. The second country with the most sustainable companies is France, with eleven firms listed, including Dassault Systems, L'Oreal, Bnp Paribas, and Renault. Among the hundred companies, there is only one Italian one, Eni, placed 29th.