The Global 100 list compiled by Canadian magazine Corporate Knights and New York-based investment research firm Innovest Strategic Value Advisors aims to measure which companies manage environmental, social and governance risks better than their competitors, making them safer long-term bets.

Amazon.com, The Coca-Cola Company, Intel Corp, Dell Inc, Nike Inc.and the Walt Disney Company were among the 20 American firms that made the list.

Britain was just behind in second with 19 entries, including British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, Glaxosmithkline PLC and Unilever PLC.

Rounding out the top 5 were Japan, 15 companies; France, 8; and Germany, 7.

Companies from 15 countries were included in the top 100.

'While markets go up and down, companies like the Global 100 members that prudently take care of the interests of all their stakeholders offer the best bet for society and investors in the long-term,' said Corporate Knights editor Toby Heaps.

Innovest CEO Matthew Kiernan predicted that the tried and true companies on the list will continue to succeed even during the global financial crisis because their good management makes them more agile to changing economic circumstances.

He said they would make gains as their 'sustainability premium' grows in the coming years.

It was released this year in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos to coincide with the World Economic Forum, where some 2,500 business and political leaders are meeting to search for ways to stem a global recession and bring stability back to financial markets.

Most of the companies it cited for sustainability were older, with the average age at 102.

Over 720 years after Stora Kopparberg's mines were first mentioned in documentary sources, the Finland-based paper maker Stora Enso Oyj continues to look a secure investment, the study said.

The youngest company on the list was Canadian telecommunications provider Telus Corp, founded in 1999. -- AP