Telefónica has once again secured its position among the top-tier companies globally committed to sustainability, earning a place in the prestigious Sustainability Yearbook 2024 by S&P Global for the fourth consecutive year. Out of the 21 global telecommunications companies featured, only four are European, with Telefónica and Telefónica Brasil standing out.
The Sustainability Yearbook 2024, a product of the S&P Global, evaluated over 9,400 companies that participated in the 2023 Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). Ultimately, only 759 companies made the cut, needing a score above 54 for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria to be among the top 10% in their industry, placing them in the top 5% to 10% of the highest performers.
Telefónica achieved an impressive score of 87 out of 100 in the S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023, published on December 8, 2023. This score not only secured its inclusion in the Sustainability Yearbook but also positioned it at the forefront of Spanish companies, sharing the top rank with two others. Furthermore, Telefónica maintains its position as a leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Europe for another year, standing out as the world’s leading telecom company in areas like Privacy, Materiality, and Tax Strategy.
Catherine Bohill, Director ESG Development and Impact at Telefónica, expressed satisfaction with the ratings, highlighting their strength in sustainability. She emphasized their commitment to leading in ESG ratings to add value to the company and adapt to the demands of an increasingly rigorous environment for investors.
Telefónica’s dedication to sustainability extends across the entire organization, earning recognition from the Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI) 2023. The initiative, focused on enhancing transparency and accountability regarding workforce and supply chain practices, acknowledged Telefónica with an impressive average score of 90%—20 points above the sector average and 28 points higher than the overall participating companies’ average. Telefónica excelled in various assessed categories, achieving a perfect score of 100% in seven items, including Governance, Human Rights Risk Assessment and Due Diligence, Pay Gap, Stability, Value Chain Working Conditions, and Worker Representation.
Additionally, Moody’s Analytics recently updated its ESG rating, placing Telefónica in the third position out of 29 European companies, with a score of 66 points. In the FTSE4Good rating, which measures companies’ performance in environmental, social, and governance practices, Telefónica scored 4.6 out of 5, showcasing its continued outperformance compared to the sector.