GOLD AND SILVER MEDAL: Pandora has been deemed the world’s most sustainable consumer brand, according to Corporate Knights’ most recent Global 100 index, released Wednesday at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Danish jeweler came in first among 1,476 companies classed under the “Consumer Discretionary” sector and came in second overall in the ranking assessing more than 8,000 publicly traded enterprises across all sectors with over $1 billion in revenue.
In first place is Italy’s ERG SpA, while Madrid-based EDP Renovaveis SA takes the third spot in the index published annually by the sustainable-economy media and research organization since 2006.
“It is extra pleasing for us to be a consumer brand that sits highly ranked among companies whose business it is to really introduce green energy,” Pandora’s chief sustainability officer Mads Twomey-Madsen told WWD in an exclusive interview. “It’s a high-caliber group of peers.”
This year marks Pandora’s second time on the Global 100 index, after its entrance in 2025 in 48th position. Kering was also on the ranking, in 43rd place for the year.
A major contributor to this leap is Pandora’s use of 100 percent recycled silver and gold in all its products. Along with the use of renewable energy across its operation and the use of lab-grown diamonds, it points to the successful decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions for the jeweler, whose revenues have risen 49 percent since 2019 while its CO2 emissions shrank by 17 percent.
“We think that it’s making our company stronger and and that it really is about future-proofing our business and our brand,” the executive said.
The company is putting its money where its mouth is and not just in terms of investments.
Sustainability targets have also been built into the compensation package for the top 100 executives at the Danish company, a move that Pandora put in place “because to us, that’s the only way we can really show that this matters on par with economic performance,” Twomey-Madsen said.
Interest rates for bank loans and credit lines used in the financing of the company are also indexed to sustainability target. On the horizon is its goal of a 50-percent reduction in CO2 emission by 2030 and reaching net-zero by 2040.
Pandora is keen to share its learnings and “really to make that something that is shareable and and scale via other companies,” Twomey-Madsen said. “Because that’s a way to accelerate things even more — whether in the jewelry industry or outside — I think that’s a key trigger to get this to happen and we’re really up for that.”
Berta de Pablos-Barbier, who took up the roles of president and chief executive officer of the company on Jan. 1, will outline the group’s strategic priorities for 2026 on Feb. 5, when Pandora report its audited full-year 2025 results.
