Time Magazine and research company Statista have conducted their first, large-scale sustainability assessment to promote sustainability and sustainable practices.

The world's 5,000 leading companies were assessed against more than 20 environmental and social responsibility criteria. The assessment included issues such as companies' emissions targets, energy efficiency, employee diversity and turnover, and occupational safety.

Finnish companies achieved excellent results in the assessment: 13 Finnish companies made the list of the most sustainable companies, with Elisa (66th), Kesko (124th), Kone (125th) and Nokia (126th) ranking the highest. According to the assessment, Kesko is the best trading sector company in Finland and globally the tenth most sustainable in its industry.

"The excellent rankings of Finnish companies in international sustainability ratings reflect the high level of sustainability work carried out by the companies. For example, at K Group we purposefully reduce the emissions of our own operations and the products we sell, add healthy alternatives to our grocery store selections, offer products that promote the green transition in the building and technical trade division, and continuously grow our electric car charging network," says Matti Kalervo, Kesko's Vice President of Sustainability.

A total of 31 companies from the retail, wholesale and consumer goods industry were selected for the list, and three of these are from Finland: Kesko, Fiskars (410th) and Huhtamäki (441st).

More than half of the most sustainable companies in the world are located in the US, Japan, the UK and Germany. Most of the companies rated as being sustainable operate in the banking, insurance and finance or manufacturing industries.

Further information:
K Group media desk, tel. +358 1053 50200, viestinta@kesko.fi
Matti Kalervo, Vice President, Sustainability, Kesko, tel. +358 1053 22536, matti.kalervo@kesko.fi
Hanna Jaakkola, Vice President, Investor Relations, Kesko, tel. +358 1053 23540, hanna.jaakkola@kesko.fi

Time Magazine's list available at: World's Most Sustainable Companies 2024 | TIME (https://time.com/collection/worlds-most-sustainable-companies-2024/)

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Kesko and K-retailers together form K Group, whose retail sales total around €16 billion. K Group is the leading trading sector operator in Northern Europe and it employs approximately 45,000 people. Kesko operates in grocery trade, building and technical trade, and car trade. Its divisions and chains act in close cooperation with retailer entrepreneurs and other partners. Kesko's net sales total around €12 billion and Kesko employs approximately 18,000 people. Kesko's chain operations include approximately 1,800 stores in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Kesko's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. The company's domicile and main premises are in Helsinki. www.kesko.fi (https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kesko.fi%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C0055a3bad62e441ef29008d7a0c5b8b5%7Cae6e7baae1bf4ef092a14eb28ec805c0%7C0%7C0%7C637154643370129476&sdata=h%2FZzH%2BGUq6p0NUCgpx93deW9nXciOhVHG5uXvym4rqw%3D&reserved=0)