World’s Best Companies in Sustainable Growth 2025

TIME and Statista have named 500 companies pairing growth with environmental stewardship. Photo: FAN WANG.

Methodology: How TIME and Statista Determined the World’s Best Companies in Sustainable Growth 2025

It may be the most important question facing businesses in the fraught age of climate crisis and stakeholder capitalism: Can a company do well while doing right by the environment? The answer is yes—but a widespread belief that there are major trade-offs persists among executives, says John Sterman, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He regularly meets with top business leaders as part of the school’s Sustainability Initiative, which he co-directs. “People are deeply stuck in this trade-off mentality: growth versus green, jobs versus the environment. These are false dichotomies.”

Still, each year thousands of businesses produce corporate sustainability reports to prove their climate change bona fides. Beware data cherry picking and greenwashing, Sterman cautions.

To understand which companies are really leading the way forward, TIME and Statista created a new methodology to identify companies around the world demonstrating both outstanding financial and environmental performance. High revenue growth and profitability compared to industry peers were just one requirement for making the cut. Companies also had to show unusually small carbon footprints (via Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, representing direct, indirect, and supply chain emissions), low water consumption and waste production rates, and high green energy usage.  

The result is a list markedly different from the Fortune 500—and other TIME company rankings, for that matter. Half of the 500 companies recognized here were not recognized on our recent business lists, including World’s Best Companies, World’s Most Sustainable Companies and America’s Best Midsize Companies. There’s no sign of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Toyota and many other global corporate titans, either because their finances didn’t grow enough or their environmental impact was too large during the period analyzed (2021 to 2023).

Instead, there are hundreds of companies you may have never heard of on this inaugural list. Just 117 of the 500 companies on the list—and just seven of the top 20—are U.S.-based. A handful of relatively small utilities focused on renewable energy are near the top. Spain’s Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente and Grenergy Renovables (no.s 1 and 2, respectively) have extremely low carbon emissions due to operations powered by 100% renewable energy. 

But this list still offers proof that businesses of any size and from almost any industry can see big growth while embracing sustainability. A few blue chip behemoths, such as Mastercard (no. 10), Visa (no. 12), BMW Group (no. 253) and Coca-Cola (no. 325) did make the cut, although midsize companies with annual revenue between $1 billion and $10 billion comprise about 70% of the list. 

More and more leaders are recognizing the business case for embedding sustainability to help power growth and profits, says Tensie Whelan, a professor at the NYU Stern School for Business. “Over and over again, we see enormous financial benefits.” Low-hanging fruit involves reducing costs through operational efficiencies, but gains can be made across a range of areas including supplier relations, innovation and sales and marketing, says Whelan, director of Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business, which helps businesses build the case for change. 

“There are really significant business reasons to invest versus, ‘Oh, this is just a nice thing to do,’” she says. And ultimately, of course, no economy can thrive without a healthy environment. —Jeremy Gantz

TIME World’s Best Companies in Sustainable Growth 2025

Rank	Company name	Industry	Headquarters	Score
1	Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente	Utilities	Spain	97.50
2	Grenergy Renovables	Utilities	Spain	94.57
3	JYP Entertainment	Technology, Media & Services	South Korea	93.66
4	Intuit	Technology, Media & Services	United States	92.80
5	Beazley	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	United Kingdom	92.44
6	Odontoprev	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	Brazil	92.24
7	AES Brasil	Utilities	Brazil	91.94
8	Mavi	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Turkey	91.46
9	Arezzo&Co	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Brazil	91.15
10	Mastercard	Banking & Financial Services	United States	90.20
11	PeptiDream Inc.	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	Japan	90.06
12	Visa	Banking & Financial Services	United States	89.88
13	Novo Nordisk	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	Denmark	89.57
14	ServiceNow	Technology, Media & Services	United States	89.23
15	VERBUND	Utilities	Austria	88.67
16	TeamViewer	Technology, Media & Services	Germany	88.57
17	Grupo Fleury	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	Brazil	88.54
18	Elevance Health	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	United States	88.33
19	Cadence Design Systems	Technology, Media & Services	United States	88.26
20	NVIDIA	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	United States	87.91
21	Adobe	Technology, Media & Services	United States	87.91
22	PagBank	Banking & Financial Services	Brazil	87.90
23	Amadeus IT Group	Technology, Media & Services	Spain	87.72
24	Jyske Bank	Banking & Financial Services	Denmark	87.67
25	Admiral Group Plc	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	United Kingdom	87.53
26	Sonata Software	Technology, Media & Services	India	87.48
27	Moncler	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Italy	87.24
28	Accenture	Professional Services	Ireland	87.18
29	Tryg	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	Denmark	86.55
30	Synopsys Inc.	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	United States	86.33
31	Zurn Elkay Water Solutions	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	United States	86.33
32	Stantec	Professional Services	Canada	85.96
33	Bancolombia	Banking & Financial Services	Colombia	85.89
34	WHSmith	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	United Kingdom	85.79
35	Hypera	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	Brazil	85.66
36	BTG Pactual	Banking & Financial Services	Brazil	85.50
37	EXL	Professional Services	United States	85.50
38	Vaisala	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	Finland	85.49
39	Capgemini	Professional Services	France	85.44
40	Samsonite	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	Hong Kong	85.29
41	Össur	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	Iceland	85.28
42	ASM	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	Netherlands	85.21
43	Asian Paints	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	India	85.19
44	Interparfums	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	France	85.14
45	Rambus	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	United States	85.09
46	S&P Global	Professional Services	United States	84.98
47	Arm	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	United Kingdom	84.83
48	Lojas Renner S.A.	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Brazil	84.72
49	Albemarle	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	United States	84.70
50	KLA Corporation	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	United States	84.68
51	SalMar	Food & Beverages	Norway	84.61
52	Samsung Biologics	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	South Korea	84.54
53	RELX	Technology, Media & Services	United Kingdom	84.35
54	Genting Singapore	Hospitality, Travel & Leisure	Singapore	84.34
55	ACCIONA Energía	Utilities	Spain	84.33
56	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	United States	84.22
57	ICON	Chemicals, Drugs & Biotechnology	Ireland	84.21
58	Straumann Group	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	Switzerland	84.17
59	Computershare	Banking & Financial Services	Australia	84.15
60	Localiza	Hospitality, Travel & Leisure	Brazil	84.13
61	Hua Nan Financial Holdings	Banking & Financial Services	Taiwan	84.12
62	LS ELECTRIC	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	South Korea	84.09
63	Informa	Professional Services	United Kingdom	83.90
64	HASI	Banking & Financial Services	United States	83.78
65	Prada	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Italy	83.75
66	Puma	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Germany	83.71
67	Autodesk	Technology, Media & Services	United States	83.70
68	Lululemon Athletica	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	Canada	83.67
69	WSP	Professional Services	Canada	83.63
70	RaiaDrogasil	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	Brazil	83.59
71	City Developments Limited	Business Services & Supplies	Singapore	83.52
72	Grainger	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	United States	83.42
73	Hiscox	Insurance, Healthcare & Social Services	Bermuda	83.37
74	Puig	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	Spain	83.36
75	Wipro	Professional Services	India	83.28
76	Aena	Resource Generation & Infrastructure Sector	Spain	83.28
77	TIM Brasil	Telecommunications Services	Brazil	83.16
78	Wistron NeWeb Corporation	Technology, Media & Services	Taiwan	83.08
79	Fortinet	Technology, Media & Services	United States	83.05
80	ASML	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	Netherlands	83.04
81	Advanced Micro Devices	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	United States	83.03
82	APAR Industries	Resource Generation & Infrastructure Sector	India	83.03
83	Ambipar	Business Services & Supplies	Brazil	83.01
84	Crocs	Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods	United States	82.98
85	Spirax Group	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	United Kingdom	82.97
86	INWIT S.p.A.	Telecommunications Services	Italy	82.85
87	Mercado Libre	Technology, Media & Services	Uruguay	82.81
88	Edwards Lifesciences	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	United States	82.74
89	Ingersoll Rand	Engineering, Manufacturing & Medical Technology	United States	82.68
90	Barco	Technology, Media & Services	Belgium	82.68
91	D’Ieteren	Automotive Industry & Suppliers	Belgium	82.65
92	Cairn	Resource Generation & Infrastructure Sector	Ireland	82.62
93	Vivo (Telefônica Brasil)	Telecommunications Services	Brazil	82.59
94	Tata Consultancy Services	Professional Services	India	82.45
95	Celestica	IT, Electronics, Hardware & Equipment	Canada	82.43
96	Sendas Distribuidora	Retail, Wholesale & Consumer Goods	Brazil	82.41
97	Banco Pichincha	Banking & Financial Services	Ecuador	82.35
98	Paypal	Banking & Financial Services	United States	82.32
99	Cisco Systems	Telecommunications Services	United States	82.31
100	Hanwha Aerospace	Aerospace & Defense	South Korea	82.31

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