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2007 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada Announced - Environmental Communication Options/Huff Strategy

2007 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada Announced

Jun 26th, 2007 3:07 AM

2007 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada Announced: Royal Bank of Canada Takes Top Spot (Toronto, Ontario, June 25, 2007) Corporate Knights released the 6th Annual Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada, the definitive annual list of Canada's top corporate citizens, today at a Gala event held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. "The 2007 Best 50 Corporate Citizens are using the unparalleled problem-solving ability of the modern corporation to take action that addresses our time's most pressing social an environmental struggles," said Toby Heaps, Editor of Corporate Knights which conducted the survey. "In particular, the core divisions of financial companies, retailers and energy companies are starting to put their money where their mouths are when it comes to environmental responsibility and green energy in a carbon-constrained world," Heaps added. This year's top ranked companies: * The top ranked company was Royal Bank of Canada which distinguished itself through strong performance on the core baseline indicators (met 100 per cent of its statutory tax obligation paying $6.136 billion of cash tax over the past three years) and also excelled relative to its sector counterparts in sustainable finance with executed financial mandates of US $5 billion for alternative energy projects since 2003, including 26 wind farms in North America, U.K., France and the Republic of Ireland and one gigawatt (GW) worth of green power projects in Europe in just 2005, which will displace greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from over 4 million cars. * The number two ranked company was Alcan Inc, which knocked down its Canadian absolute greenhouse gases by 30 percent since 1990, while increasing production by 50 per cent, through energy efficiency programs and applying superior smelting technology to put the squeeze on PFCs, which are 6,500 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. * Vancouver City Savings C.U. took third overall because of its targeted socially responsible investment offerings, in which its members and clients have invested $450 million. Vancity also offers Clean Air Auto Loan, a personal loan of up to $35,000 on the purchase of a new vehicle with interest rates that allow borrowers to save up to $3,000 over five years. This year, in addition to generic citizenship indicators used in past years (pension fund quality, diversity, pollution, CEO-pay fairness, and tax dollar generation), sector specific indicators such as renewable energy investments (for financial companies) and fleet efficiency (for auto companies) were factored in to produce the most in-depth ranking to date. On the less positive side, the executive suite and boardrooms with few exceptions are failing to reflect the rich diversity of Canada. Among TSX companies, there are 0 female CEOs and despite that half of Canada's population are visible minorities, 51 of the TSX 60 companies have no visible minority board members In addition to a presentation of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens, The Ontario Minister of Environment, The Hon. Laurel Broten (Welcoming Address), Elizabeth May (Why it makes sense for business to lead on climate change, Johanne Gelinas (Sustainability factors as core business drivers), also delivered remarks at the Gala. Please see for more information, including the complete list of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada: http://www.corporateknights.ca/reports/best50/page.asp?name=best_50_2007 -30- For more information, contact: Toby Heaps, 416-274-1432, 416-203-4674 Corporate Knights is Canada's magazine for responsible business. ( www.corporateknights.ca)