General Electric

Ranked 2 in 2008 global Accountability Rating

General Electric (GE) rose from 13th in 2007 to 2nd place in 2008. Its significant upwards leap is largely due to the improvement of its approach to public disclosure. While GE’s strategic approach to ‘the bigger picture’ of sustainability was discussed very well in previous years, there was little discussion of the efforts GE undertakes in order to drive responsible practices into all aspects of its operations. Previously, GE’s attitude seems to have been ‘trust us’. It now appears to be responding to stakeholder calls of ‘show us’.

Governance of non-financial issues is well defined at the top of the organization, and the convening of diverse stakeholders helps the company’s leadership to explore major sustainability issues such as human rights and water in collaboration with external experts, stakeholder representatives and opinion leaders.

The company’s ecomagination initiative has also been remarkably successful:

• More than 60 ecomagination products that produce cleaner energy and water or improve efficiency have already been launched.
• An extensive range of further services and products is under development. These are being designed to meet the fast growing demand for sustainable industrial- and infrastructure solutions, such as thin-film solar panels and hybrid locomotives.

The success of the whole ecomagination initiative resulted in ecomagination’s revenue target being raised from $20 billion to $25 billion by 2010. The ecomagination portfolio is approximating a quarter of the company's product revenue, making sustainability solutions a major part of GE’s business model.

The looming global recession is likely to prompt an increase in public spending on major infrastructure projects in order to stimulate economic activity. Sustainability factors are sure to play a considerable role in the allocation of such spending. With its portfolio of ecomagination products and services, GE is well positioned to benefit from any increase in public spending.