An environmental score to guide action
The NEC metric evaluates economic activities based on their impact on the environment. It is a relative measure that can be applied across sectors and has a high level of granularity. The NEC metric places companies on a scale from -100% to +100% which enables economic actors to identify companies that have a stronger impact on the environment, “destructors” which are between -100% and 0%, as well as companies that have less impact on the environment, “contributors” which are between 0% and +100%. This scale enables cross-sectoral comparison with a high level of granularity.
Source: NEC version 1.1 scores for financial years 2025 and 2024, calculated by NEC Initiative.
Yancoal Australia | -100%
Yancoal produces thermal coal, used for power generation. Coal power generation releases the most CO2 than any other fossil fuel which highly contributed to global warming and significantly deteriorates air quality.
Yancoal Australia
Kaiser Aluminum | -40%
Kaiser Aluminum focuses on the production of aluminum which has a strong impact on the environment. The production of aluminum requires large amounts of electricity and water. The extraction of bauxite in open-pit mines severely degrades local biodiversity and pollutes the soil.
Kaiser Aluminum
Inditex | -21%
Inditex owns poor quality fast fashion brands that overproduce clothing to frequently roll out collections each year. This generates significant amounts of waste that drives greenhouse gas emissions, soil and air pollution, amongst other impacts.
Inditex
LVMH | -13%
LVMH produces various luxury good items generating various levels of environmental impact: from average - cosmetics and some clothing - to strong - leather goods, mostly, and wines and spirits.
LVMH
Average impact | 0%
The NEC score of 0% represents the average impact of the global economy on the environment.
Average impact
Schneider Electric | +11%
Schneider Electric manufactures various equipment that optimizes energy usage in buildings, which enables the electrification of usages in the economy.
Schneider Electric
Endesa | +56%
Endesa produces electricity, historically from coal power plants but has shifted to focus on scaling its renewable electricity generation. The NEC metric reflects this shift as the company's NEC score evolved from +25% in 2012 to +56% in 2025.
Endesa
Organto Foods | + 47%
Organto Foods only sells fruits and vegetables, the production of which has a much lower environmental impact than other foods (meat, fish,…): it requires less land, water and chemical inputs, and emits significantly less GHGs. The NEC metric highlights this relatively lower impact.
Organto Foods
Alstom | +78%
Alstom mainly manufactures electric trains, which are one of the most environmentally high-performance modes of transport, both for passengers and freight, particularly in terms of GHG emissions and air pollution.
Alstom
Ørsted | +94%
Ørsted is a leader in offshore wind power, which is the “NEC ecosolution” for electricity generation. That does not, however, mean that this technology is neutral: it simply highlights that this is the technology with the lowest environmental impact per kWh of electricity generated.
Ørsted
