Why is SAP one of the World’s Most Sustainable Companies?

As climate risks and sustainability regulations become more of a threat, companies are prioritising their environmental and social performance.

Many companies have learnt to decouple emissions from economic growth, allowing them to have a positive impact on the climate while growing as a business.

Corporate Knights’s Global 100 ranking highlights which companies are adjusting to a low-carbon future, growing their sustainable revenues and investments.

In the 2026 list, SAP has been included in the Global 100, showcasing its efforts to accelerate climate action.

Matthias Medert, Global Head of Sustainability at SAP, said on LinkedIn: “Sustainability is not a side initiative for us – it is a core pillar of SAP’s strategy and identity.

“This recognition reflects the consistency of our efforts, our willingness to evolve as expectations rise and the tangible progress driven by teams across the company.

“Being named among the world’s most sustainable companies reinforces our commitment to scale responsible innovation across the IT sector – from product design and operations to the solutions we deliver that help our customers advance their own sustainability transformations.”

All sustainability, net zero and sustainable supply chain leaders should attend:

• Sustainability LIVE: The Net Zero Summit - QEII Centre, London, March 4-5
• Sustainability LIVE: The US Summit - Navy Pier, Chicago, April 21-22

Co-located with Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE, these events brings together CSOs, ESG leaders and senior decision-makers at a moment when sustainability, supply chains and commercial performance are increasingly interconnected.

Tickets can be booked online today for The Net Zero Summit and The US Summit. Group discounts available.

Why has SAP made the list?

SAP has committed to achieving net zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2030, aligning its goals with the 1.5 C target set by the Paris Agreement.

It is working to reduce gross greenhouse gas emissions by 90% across its value chain, with no more than 10% neutralised through high-quality, verified carbon removal projects.

Until 2030, SAP is also working on financing projects that reduce and remove more CO₂ from the atmosphere than its own operations produce each year.

It also produces sustainability solutions which are powered by AI, using sustainability data from a company’s operations and supply chain to create an actionable plan for meeting its targets.

SAP’s integrated AI breaks down data and enables real-time insights, which allows companies to manage their ESG performance without ignoring financial growth.

Sophia Mendelsohn, Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer at SAP, says: “If sustainability is not part of the current AI conversation in your organisation, it risks getting left behind while strategy and budgets are open.

“Sustainability is emerging as one of the most impactful enterprise applications for AI.”

How rankings were calculated

The Global 100 was first launched in 2005, analysing publicly traded companies with at least US$1bn in revenue.

For the 2026 list, companies were assessed on three equally weighted metrics: sustainable investments, sustainable revenues and the Sustainable Revenue Momentum Score, which tracks a company’s growth in sustainable revenues from 2022 to 2024.

The ranking shows a dominance of companies from Western Europe, with 37 companies making the list.

With 20 companies from the US making the Global 100, it shows how some organisations are prioritising sustainable practices, despite political tensions.

In China, 12 countries were ranked in the top 100, all of which dominate in vehicle and battery manufacturing.

The 2026 Global 100 includes many companies that are leading their respective sectors, including Ørsted, Schneider Electric, Ecolab, Novo Nordisk and WSP.

Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights, says: “Focusing on what matters most and on what can be assessed most transparently have been core ranking principles over the more than two decades we’ve been doing this work.

“This year, we’ve focused exclusively on what portion of each business is actually making the world more sustainable.

“We put particular emphasis on momentum and speed of improvement, given the growing urgency around not just carbon emissions, but the many ways in which business activity is outstripping our planet’s carrying capacity.”