POSCO : tops in Terms of Global Sustainability Management in Korea at Davos Forum

- POSCO climbed to 35th place by five notches from last year
- The only steelmaker in the world to be selected for three years in a row.
- High scores in safety, environment and employee wage levels

POSCO was selected as the best company in global sustainability management at the Davos Forum.

POSCO scored the highest points among Korean companies by finishing in 35th on the list of "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in 2017", rising by five notches from the previous year in the World Economic Forum (WEF) that was held in Switzerland on January 17.

The Davos Forum has been announcing the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations" every year by entrusting the work to the Canadian media and investment advisory firm Corporate Knights since 2005. This assessment is based on an assessment that not only financial performance but also the environmental and social performances of corporations with the highest market capitalizations in the world influence their competitiveness and sustainable growth. Overall rankings are defined based on 14 items - energy efficiency, the efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions management, the efficiency of atmospheric environment management, the efficiency of water resources management, waste recycling, innovation capacity, tax rates, the levels of average employee wages compared to CEOs, pension fund ratios, safety performances, turnover rates, diversity and links between sustainability performance and compensation.

In particular, POSCO made the top 100 for the third consecutive year and was the only steel company in the world to do so, receiving high marks in terms of safety performance, water efficiency, waste recycling, and the levels of average employee wages compared to CEOs.

Apart from POSCO, Shinhan Financial Group (40th) and LG Electronics (65th) were among the top 100 companies as Korean companies. The list was topped by Siemens, the German electric and electronics company while Johnson & Johnson placed 8th, Coca-Cola 48th and GE 99th.

This feat is significant in that the judges recognized POSCO's efforts to secure sustainable future competitiveness despite the increasingly difficult market conditions such as global steel over supply, sluggish demand and strengthening trade regulations around the world.

In the meantime, in SAM-Dow Jones Sustainability Indices evaluations, POSCO was selected as the best company for 12 straight years from 2005 to 2016 for the first time in the steel industry. World Steel Dynamics (WSD), a world-class steel industry analyzer, has named POSCO the most competitive steelmaker in the world for seven years running since 2010.