General Mills Receives High Marks for Corporate Sustainability on the 2015 Newsweek Green Rankings

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., June 15, 2015 /3BL Media/ - General Mills was named to Newsweek's 2015 Green Rankings for the second consecutive year for its commitment to corporate sustainability and efficiently managing environmental impact within the company's operations. This year, General Mills ranks 48th out of 500 best publicly traded U.S. companies and 77th out of 500 best publicly traded global companies. In addition, the company is ranked 4th out of 19 global food and beverage companies included in the top 500.

“We’re proud to be recognized by Newsweek for another year. Rankings such as this are a testament to our progress to-date and further validation for our continue pursuit to create economic, social and environmental value in the countries where we operate,” said Jerry Lynch, chief sustainability officer and vice president for General Mills.

In 2014, General Mills received the highest placements on Newsweek’s Green Rankings since the list was initiated in 2009, ranking 37th out of 500 U.S. companies and 65th out of 500 global companies. While General Mills’ 2015 ranking fell slightly, the company’s overall weighted score improved by 8 percent year over year.

“We know that large companies are starting to become more aware of their environmental footprints," said Elijah Wolfson, senior editor for Newsweek. "The hope is that continuing to grade companies annually on these metrics as part of Newsweek's Green Rankings project will help hold them accountable for their impact on the environment moving forward."

Newsweek Green Rankings is one of the world's foremost assessments of corporate environmental performance. Based on research from Corporate Knights Capital and HIP (Human Impact + Profit) Investor Inc., the 2015 iteration of the rankings uses a weighted average of eight key factors to evaluate the environmental performance of the world’s largest publicly traded companies. Measured factors include energy, emissions and water productivity, waste productivity, “green” revenue, “green” pay, board oversight and evaluation mechanisms and audited environmental metrics.

“Our social and environmental efforts are tied closely to our company’s most material issues, including transparency, GHG emissions, water stewardship and more,” added Lynch. “We believe these areas are where General Mills can make the greatest impact both inside and upstream of our operations.”

General Mills is recognized among other companies such as Adobe Systems, Unilever and Ecolab. The full list and related stories appear online at Newsweek.com.

Methodology
To pick the 500 best publicly traded U.S. companies and the 500 best publicly traded global companies, Newsweek partners with the Corporate Knights Capital to show which companies are generating the most revenue with the least amount of environmental impact. To get there, eight clearly defined key performance indicators are taken in to account including carbon, energy, water, waste, and the extent to which internal governance is geared towards sustainability.

For more information on the 2015 Newsweek Green Rankings and for ranking methodology visit Newsweek.com.

Contact:
Shannon Heine
General Mills
(763) 764-6364