Building products and services are propelling Canadian headquartered enterprises into the rankings of the global top 200 publicly traded companies with revenues tied to low-carbon ventures. The newly released Carbon Clean200 listing of top earners includes 11 Canadian companies, seven of which are commonly direct suppliers to the commercial real estate, facilities management and development sectors.

The Clean200 represent the most prosperous companies among a pool of 8,359 publicly traded entities that derive at least 10 per cent of revenues from goods and services aligned with clean energy, energy efficiency, the circular economy or sustainable production, finance, acquisitions or research and development. To qualify, Clean200 designees must also be free of any earnings associated with fossil fuels, deforestation, weapons or private prisons and have no history of human rights abuses or climate policy obstruction.

This year’s Clean200 are deemed to have collectively registered more than USD $2.5 trillion in sustainability-linked income in 2023. The annual report — jointly produced by the Canadian and American research endeavours, Corporate Knights and As You Sow — also compares the Clean200’s investment performance against the MSCI’s world (ACWI) and world energy indices.

It concludes that the Clean200 delivered a 190.9 per cent return on a sustainable revenue-weighted basis between July 1, 2016 and Jan. 29, 2025 versus 162 per cent for the MSCI ACWI index and 76.7 per cent for the MSCI world energy index during the same period. On average, 54.5 per cent of the revenue Clean200 companies generate is tied to sustainable products and services, while the MSCI ACWI index average is 15.5 per cent.

“The scale and global diversity of leading companies continue to expand and redefine the term ‘cleantech’ to be any company with products and services that will reduce demand for fossil fuels and water,” observes Andrew Behar, the report’s co-author, and the chief executive officer of As You Sow. “Sustainably sourced products are good for business, shareholder returns and the overall economy.”

“Stock markets care more about economic materiality of the parabolic growth in clean energy than the political leanings of the day,” concurs Toby Heaps, the other co-author, and chief executive officer of Corporate Knights.

The Clean200’s top 10 earners boast about USD $830 billion in sustainability-linked revenue for 2023. Six of the 10 derived upwards of two-thirds of their total annual revenue from products and services linked to a low-carbon economy — with earnings for the battery manufacturers, Contemporary Amperex and LG Energy Solutions, and electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, solely emanating from sustainable products.

The Clean200 are domiciled in 35 different countries and classified in 10 different industry sectors. The largest share of companies (41) are located in the United States. Canada and France are tied in fifth with 11 each, following after China (21), Japan (18) and Germany (14). Spain, South Korea, Brazil and Taiwan round out the top ten hosts, while the United Kingdom is slotted at 11th as the home of five Clean200 companies.)

The engineering and environmental consulting firm, WSP Global, is the top Canadian entrant on the list, ranked 95th for its sustainable revenue. Property owners, managers and investors are also likely to have business dealings with six other Clean200 companies:

• Canadian Solar Inc., provider of equipment for solar power generation in commercial and residential applications, ranked 121st;
• Manulife Financial Corp., an insurance and financial products provider, ranked 133rd;
• Waste Connections Inc., a waste services company, ranked 152nd;
• GFL Environmental, a waste services company, ranked 168th;
• Cascades, a paper products producer, ranked 186th; and
• Stantec, an engineering, environmental and architectural consulting firm, ranked 189th.

Other Clean200 designees based in Canada, include: BCE (109th); Canadian National Railway (127th); Telus Corp. (137th); and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (169th). Ten of the Canadian companies are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while Canadian Solar trades on the NASDAQ.

Although headquartered in the U.S., one of the three real estate ventures to make the Clean200 list has a presence in Canada. Equinix owns and operates data centres in eight Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Kamloops and Saint John. As well, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) recently committed USD $5.6 billion (CAD $7.9 billion) to take a 37.5 per cent stake in Equinix’s planned development of additional hyperscale facilities in the United States. The REIT is traded on the NASDAQ and ranked 163rd among the Clean200.

Singapore-based CapitaLand Investment has also made a modest foray into Canada with a low-rise multifamily development underway in Edmonton. However, the bulk of its holdings are in Asia where it boasts six listed property funds totalling USD $61 billion in funds under management. Ranked 160th in the Clean200, its global portfolio spans 45 countries, including the U.S.. It is traded on the Singapore Exchange.

City Developments Limited, also listed on the Singapore Exchange, is the final real estate entrant in this year’s Clean200, ranked 195th. Known as CityDev, its portfolio stretches to 29 countries, almost exclusively east of the Atlantic Ocean, with the exception of the U.S..

The post Low-carbon revenues flow from buildings sector appeared first on REMINET.