SAUSALITO, Cal. -- Responding to last week's release of the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World," Natural Capital Institute's Director Paul Hawken called the new ranking another example of the "black box" effect of social and environmental business research, and urged the SRI industry to increase the transparency of its evaluative processes.

According to its website (www.global100.org), the Global 100 is a list of "the 100 most sustainable corporations" based on ratings by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. The project, co-sponsored by Innovest and Corporate Knights, defines a sustainable corporation as one "that produces an overall positive impact on society and the environment." According to Hawken, such a definition is "nearly meaningless and has no value to science, people, or ecosystems."