Dofasco praised, Enbridge dropped from Dow Jones Sustainability Index

The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index has selected Dofasco Inc. as the market sector leader in the basic resources industry, while dropping Enbridge Inc. for environmental reasons.

Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes were the first global indexes tracking the financial performance of sustainability-driven companies worldwide. The indexes are produced by Dow Jones Indexes, STOXX Ltd. and Zurich-based Sustainable Asset Management Group. The DJSI World Indexes cover the top 10% of the biggest 2,500 companies in its conventional benchmark -- the Dow Jones World Index – in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.

On Sept. 4, the company released results of its annual review which included companies to be added or deleted for social or environmental reasons, or for failing to achieve market capitalization.

In terms of Canadian companies, the DJSI dropped Enbridge Inc. and BCE Emergis. According to Gabriela Grab Hartmann, Sustainability Analyst for SAM Group, the sustainability performance of Enbridge was weaker than that of TransCanada, another pipeline company (and also another Canadian firm). “Enbridge showed a lot less improvement than TransCanada compared to last year,” Hartmann said in an email to the SIO explaining the changes. “Moreover, Enbridge’s score was slightly reduced given its mediocre crisis management of the oil spill in the area of the Nemadji River.”

Last Jan. 25, about 100,000 gallons of crude oil spilled in a leak at an Enbridge oil terminal near the Nemadji River in Superior, Wisconsin. Most of the oil was contained within the terminal's ditches and retention ponds. But about 19,000 gallons overflowed to the river, about half a mile south of the terminal. The river was frozen at the time, facilitating cleanup of the spill, and tests revealed no water contamination. Enbridge officials believe the leak occurred during delivery from the pipeline to a storage tank.

Hartmann said BCE Emergis was dropped simply because the company dropped below its threshold of the 2,500 largest companies in the world by market capitalization. She said the deletion was not based on the company’s sustainability score.

DJSI also announced that Dofasco Inc. was named the market sector leader for the basic resources. Dofasco is the only Canadian company to be named as the industry leader in its sector.

“Dofasco has successfully integrated its sustainable development strategy into business operations and retained its position as the steel industry leader,” DJSI said in a report on its sectoral leaders. DJSI noted that the company has exceeded its commitment in reducing energy consumtion. It also favours environmentally-friendly steel uses, such as home-building products and energy-efficient cars.

The Canadian companies currently in the index include: Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Alcan Inc., TransCanada Corp., Suncor Energy Inc., Nexen Inc., TELUS Corp., TransAlta Corp., Shell Canada Ltd., Cognos Inc., Domtar Inc., Terasen Inc., Dofasco Inc. and Ballard Power Systems Inc.

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