OREANDA-NEWS. September 26, 2013. Following inclusion in the 2013 RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook and being declared ‘gold class’ by the sustainable investment company in January, ArcelorMittal was handed over the awards at a ceremony in Paris this week.

Company secretary and chairman of ArcelorMittal’s corporate responsibility coordination group, Henk Scheffer, attended the 18 September event and accepted the award on behalf of the company.

RobecoSAM gave ArcelorMittal their highest sustainability rating possible naming our company  “Sector Leader” – or best company in its industry – and recognised us with a “Gold Class” award.

In his acceptance speech at the Elysee Biarritz Cinema in Paris, Henk told the audience how maintaining a constructive dialogue with our employees and other stakeholders has always been and will continue to be essential for the company. “We will keep developing this dialogue, further integrating our human rights policy into our supply chain,” he explained.

Henk also explained that ArcelorMittal is fully committed to technological development in order to reduce CO2 and other emissions, highlighting how the company has been dealing with its sustainability challenges in a responsible and committed manner with continuous support from our management that drives the strong focus on improving the company’s sustainability.

This is ArcelorMittal’s second inclusion in the RobecoSAM’s Sustainability Yearbook, an enormous recognition which follows our 10% improvement from the previous year in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index score announced in September 2012. In 2011, ArcelorMittal had already scored a remarkable 77%, against a sector average of 44%.

Our company secretary also seized the opportunity to commend RobecoSAM for organising a very stimulating and meaningful sustainability conference and awards ceremony.

RobecoSAM, specialises in sustainability investing and provides the rating for the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. The rating system comprehensively covers all aspects of sustainability from corporate governance, risk management, compliance and innovation to climate strategy, environmental management and human capital development. Other sector leaders included AirFrance-KLM, Sodexo and Alcatel Lucent.