According to the British think tank InfluenceMap, Unilever and AkzoNobel belong to an international vanguard that clearly supports ambitious climate policy and acts accordingly.

According to the researchers, the Anglo-Dutch food group and the Dutch paint manufacturer belong to a select group that shows leadership. In total, fifteen large companies are on the so-called A-List of the non-profit organization.

European companies dominate the list. Several of them are active in sustainable energy—for example, the Danish windmill builder Ørsted and the Spanish energy company Iberdrola. Unilever competitor Nestlé, furniture maker IKEA and clothing company H&M are also doing well. The list also includes three American companies: electric car maker Tesla and energy companies Edison International and PG&E. Companies from countries such as Japan, Canada and Australia are absent from the list.

The drafters still see “a lack of binding progressive climate policies” in many countries. In addition, much of the global business community “seems indifferent or active against far-reaching climate action,” says InfluenceMap.

According to the list’s makers, the companies on it have “consistently and actively supported climate policies in line with the Paris Climate Agreement,” which world leaders concluded in 2015. The agreement sets the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees and a maximum of 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial times. However, whether that will succeed is uncertain; according to the panel of climate scientists IPCC, the 1.5-degree mark may already have been reached sometime in the next two decades.

The global temperature has already risen by 1.1 degrees. IN AUGUST, the IPCC warned that only rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could keep climate targets within reach.