International Paper was recognized by Ethisphere as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies.
International Paper is one of only six companies to be recognized for the 15th consecutive year and one of only two honorees in the forestry, paper and packaging industry.
In 2021, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 22 countries and 47 industries.
"This is a major milestone for International Paper. Our team members around the world work tirelessly to support ethics as a core value. We act honestly and operate with integrity and respect. We promote a culture of openness and accountability," International Paper General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Sharon Ryan said.
"While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead – above all other institutions – on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity," said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. "The World's Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve."
Grounded in Ethisphere's proprietary Ethics Quotient, the World's Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain.
The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe.
This year, the process was streamlined and the question set expanded to gauge how applicants are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social and governance factors, safety, equity and inclusion and social justice.