Nov. 2, 2007 Oil giant BP is the worlds most socially and environmentally accountable company, according to this years Accountability Rating by international think tank AccountAbility and CSR consultancy Csrnetwork.

Now in its fourth year, the rating assesses sustainability performance self-reported by the world's top 100 global companies and compares it to actual social and environmental performance data. Companies are rated on strategy, governance, engagement, and impact.

Europe-based companies dominated this year's list, with all of the top five and 18 of the top 20 companies headquartered there. The top five are:

1. BP
2. Barclays
3. ENI
4. HSBC Holdings
5. Vodafone

Oil, banking, and motor companies all scored highly. This shows that sectors in the global spotlight face very powerful incentives to develop robust accountability systems." says Mark Line, director of Csrnetwork.

BP, for example, performed well with independent assurance statements, a good governance structure, and a high level of public disclosure and has been progressive in multi-stakeholder initiatives like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. But recent fines imposed upon BP show that even with world-class management systems in place, they need to be properly exercised across all a companys operations, according to Dr. Simon Zadek, CEO of AccountAbility.

Global 100 corporations are rightly under scrutiny at present, with the situation in Burma to sub-prime lending, oil spills, and health and safety disasters, says Zadek. The bottom line is a small but significant increase in accountability performance. Companies of all sizes, in all regions, and across all sectors still face significant accountability challenges."