South Korea’s technology giant Samsung Electronics Co. ranked 22nd on a list of the world’s top environment-friendly companies released by the U.S. magazine Newsweek on Wednesday.

In the Newsweek Green Global 500 Ranking, Samsung soared 32 notches from its 54th place finish last year, to take the highest ranking among South Korean companies.

German reinsurance firm Munich Re topped the list, followed by U.S. information and technology firm IBM Corp. and Australia’s National Australia Bank.

Samsung was eighth in a group of 30 global technology businesses, while IBM ranked first and Japanese IT firm Fujitsu came fourth.

Meanwhile, seven other South Korean companies were included in the list, with LG Corp. ranking 65th and Hyundai Motor Co. coming in at 74th place.

The Newsweek ranking determines how eco-friendly a company is based on corporate environmental impact, what managerial actions are taken to preserve the environment, and transparency in sharing related corporate information. This year, companies in finance and technology ranked highest on the list.

Samsung said it has made exhaustive efforts to establish itself as a leader in the global green economy by making some 2,000 products that received environment-friendly labels and becoming a supersector leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for 2011. 

(Yonhap News)