In this analysis, we focus on a subset of our sustainable investment database consisting of 800 large companies that we have been tracking since 2018, including 175 from the United States, 69 from China and 222 from Europe. In 2023, the European companies invested more than 3.5 times more in sustainable production than the U.S. companies, and four times more than the Chinese companies. This is partly a reflection of relatively high disclosure in Europe, but European policies and corporate leadership on sustainability are also evident. The trends for these companies are especially telling, with the 40% annual growth rate in sustainable investment by the European companies edging out the Chinese group (35%/year) and more than double that of the U.S. companies.
Sustainable investments are those aligned with Corporate Knights’ global Sustainable Economy Taxonomy. Click here for more on how we define sustainability. To explore more trends from the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Intelligence Database, please fill out our contact form or reach out to research@corporateknights.com.