Nexans sustainability score: 36/100
Nexans is a French maker of power and data cables, headquartered in Puteaux; Nexans SA is registered from 1994 and its roots go back to 1897. 5 billion sales at current metal prices in 2025.
Founded 1994Head office Puteaux, FranceStaff ~25,700 (2025)Revenue ~€8.5B at current metal prices (FY2025)Website ↗
Nexans has cut its own emissions 49% since 2019 and has SBTi-validated 1.5°C and net-zero targets. Its footprint of 80 MtCO2e is 94% the modelled energy lost in its cables over their working lives, and its total rose from 2023 to 2025. Half of its renewable electricity is unbundled certificates, and recycled copper is 19% against a 25% target.
Nexans scores 36/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified October 2026.
That places Nexans joint 497th of 900 companies scored, and joint 5th of 12 in Electrical Equipment / Lighting.
What is Nexans doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Targets & Commitments and Carbon Footprint — Operations (9/10, 8/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (4/10, 4/10).
Where Nexans lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain8/10Its Scope 3 emissions aren't fully verified or falling year on year.
- Whether its emissions are falling4/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water6/10No water stewardship programme or verified fall in water use.
- Its climate targets9/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports8/10No mission-locked structure, such as B Corp certification.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Nexans's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Nexans's score changed?
Nexans's score has been reviewed 2 times and currently stands where it started, at 36.
- 36 → 3628 October 2026
Initial public score 36 (publish-draft)
- Scored 3628 October 2026
Initial public score 36 (publish-draft)
What evidence is Nexans's score based on?
13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
15% of them were published by Nexans itself; the rest come from independent sources.
94% of Nexans' reported footprint (75.2 of 80.4 MtCO2e in 2025) is modelled: the energy its cables are expected to lose as heat on the grid over 20 to 40 years of use, worked out from national grid forecasts. We use the reported total, as we do for the use-phase emissions of oil and car makers. How to treat use-phase emissions for products that enable clean energy is on our list for the next methodology review.
11 of 13 sources are independent of the company.
“-49% Scopes 1 & 2 GHG emissions (vs. 2019) and -40% Scope 3 GHG emissions (vs. 2019)”
“Reduction of GHG emissions - Scope3 40% 30%”
“"raison_sociale":"Nexans","annee_de_reporting":2022”
“‘A List’ for climate change and A- on water”
“Nexans commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 46.2% by 2030 from a 2019 base year*.”
“49% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions compared to the baseline year”
“Recycling von bis zu 80 000 Tonnen Kupfer pro Jahr”
“coentreprise créée en 2008 par les groupes Suez et Nexans”
“The European Commission has fined ten copper cable-makers, including Nexans and Prysmian, for rigging underground and sub-sea cable supply tenders”
“a number of other cable makers including Nexans SA have been fined a total of €301.6 million by the European Union”
“Nexans has joined the Climate Group's RE100 initiative and is committed to achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2030.”
“the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has officially approved its net-zero commitment”
“Nexans est un membre actif d’Europacable, l’association européenne des fabricants de fils et câbles.”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Nexans compare with other electrical equipment / lighting companies?
Where Nexans sits among electrical equipment / lighting peers.
Among the 12 major electrical equipment / lighting brands we've scored, Nexans is tied =5th of 12, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in Electrical Equipment / Lighting?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Nexans.
Enphase Energy has published consistent ESG reporting aligned with major frameworks, but its decarbonisation commitments are weak.
See the breakdown →Legrand has cut its own emissions 56% since 2022, but its total footprint rose 22% to 10.6 MtCO2e as emissions from its products in use climbed with data-centre sales.
See the breakdown →Signify's reported footprint fell 61% from 2019 to 165 MtCO2e in 2025, but 99.5% of it is the modelled lifetime electricity use of the lamps it sells, so much of the fall comes from cleaner grids and more efficient LEDs.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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