Lars Rebien Srensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, of Denmark, and Bob Welsh, CEO of VicSuper of Australia have been honored with this year’s SAM/SPG Sustainability Award.
This year’s Leader Award went to Lars Rebien Srensen, Chairman and CEO of Novo Nordisk. Based in Denmark, this international pharmaceutical and biotechnology company employs 21,000 people worldwide and generates annual sales of CHF 6 billion. Since 1999 Novo Nordisk has managed to increase its earnings per share by more than 21% p.a.
For over 10 years, Novo Nordisk has concerned itself with corporate social responsibility and sustainability, in particular listening to the opinions of different lobby groups. As a world leader in diabetes care, Novo Nordisk understands the challenges facing healthcare companies that are involved in treating chronic diseases which are very much in the global spotlight. Through concrete partnerships and fair pricing models in the world’s poorest 49 countries, Novo Nordisk has successfully contributed to sustainable diabetes healthcare.
Bob Welsh received the Pioneer Award for integrating sustainability principles into all the asset classes of the pension fund VicSuper. The public pension fund of the state of Victoria has around 200,000 members and manages assets worth CHF 3.3 billion.
In Australia – the world’s third biggest pension fund market – VicSuper plays an important pioneer role with regard to its sustainable investment strategy. Last year VicSuper was one of the first pension funds in the world to publish a comprehensive sustainability report. Since all Australian employees are free to choose their own pension fund as of July 2005, VicSuper’s asset volumes are growing by about 30% p.a. on average, not least thanks to the fund’s sustainable positioning.
Bob Welsh is the driving force behind VicSuper’s long-term and sustainable performance. As well as considering sustainability criteria when making investment decisions, VicSuper also demonstrates its high level of commitment by actively exercising its voting rights in portfolio companies and is also involved in CO2 projects as part of a long-term investment strategy.
The Sustainability Leadership Award has a prize worth CHF 50’000. It is an annual award sponsored by the independent asset manager SAM Sustainable Asset Management and the Sustainable Performance Group (SPG), an investment company quoted on the Swiss stock exchange, with the support of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
The award goes to personalities that excel through their exceptional and proactive approach towards sustainability and their entrepreneurial success. The 33 candidates nominated for the award were selected on the basis of the following criteria:
Leadership Award:
Well-known personality working in the private sector
Proven achievement in making sustainability work in business practice
Role model in the field of sustainability
Good communication potential
Pioneer Award
Initial success in making sustainability work in business practice
High degree of innovation in successfully completed projects
Amplification potential
Previous Winners:
Antony Burgmans, Chairman, Unilever N.V., and Robin Cornelius, CEO, Switcher SA, 2004
Tessa Tennant, founder of the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia, (ASrIA), 2003
Michael Otto, Chairman, Otto, and Jos Maria Figueres Olsen, former Chairman, Costa Rica, 2002
Ray C. Anderson, CEO Interface Inc., 2001
Selection Committee (jury)
Professor Meinrad K. Eberle, former Director, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
Beat Curti, B. Curti Holding, Ksnacht, Switzerland
Susan Davis, President, Capital Missions Company, Elkhorn, WI, USA
Ashok Khosla, President, Development Alternatives, Inc., New Delhi, India
Barbara Kux, Chief Procurement Officer, Royal Philips Electronics, Germany
Bjrn Stigson, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland
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