Nineteen British firms — down from 23 last year — made this year’s Global 100 list (PDF) of the most sustainable large corporations in the world. That was enough to put it in second place, behind the US, in total number of companies to make the list.

Announced each year during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Global 100 list is compiled by Corporate Knights Inc., a Canada-based media company, and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. This is the fifth year in which the list has been announced.

In addition to the UK corporations, this year’s list featured 20 firms from the US (up from 16 in 2008),  15 from Japan (up from 13), eight from France (up from six), seven from Germany (up from six) and five each from Canada (up from three), Finland (unchanged) and Sweden (unchanged).

Said Matthew Kiernan, CEO of Innovest, “The continuing out-performance of the Global 100, even in the midst of the current global financial crisis, provides eloquent testimony — and yet more evidence — for investors, company executives, governments, and civil society alike: superior positioning and performance on environmental, social, and governance issues does provide a valuable leading indicator of better-managed, more agile, ‘futureproof’ companies. And we expect this ‘sustainability premium’ to become even larger in the coming years.”

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