Portugal has topped a ranking of listed company indices according to how they perform on sustainability issues.

The ranking, compiled by investment research firm Morningstar, looked at 35 indices around the world and revealed that none of the companies in Portugal’s main index are involved in an environmental, social or governance controversy.

Portugal scored 67.5 on Morningstar’s 2016 Sustainability Atlas. The UK, at 51.8, scored below all of its western European competitors but scored the same as Taiwan. France and Germany scored 58.3 and 56.3 respectively. Meanwhile, all the Nordic countries were in the upper quartile.

The US and Canada, 47 and 49.6 respectively, scored less than Brazil’s 50.6, while China took the bottom spot with a score of 39.1.

Morningstar’s report said: “On a regional basis, companies domiciled in the eurozone tend to have strong ESG performance relative to their global industry peers.

“Asian and emerging-markets countries, on the other hand, tend to have lower scores overall and on all three pillars (environmental, social, governance).”

On Portugal, Morningstar said that even though its index is small at just 13 stocks, “the basket is mostly composed of stocks with ESG scores that rank above average or high in their respective global industry peer group.”

Morningstar’s ESG scores represent the “degree to which companies in a portfolio have transparent policies and management systems to address their ESG-related challenges.”