Fortune - USA (2021-10 & 2021-11)

THE LIST

26

NO. 4

Banco San-

tander (Brasil)

Weaning a nation

from fossil fuels.

SÃO PAULO

146 FORTUNE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021

Viatris, formed

by the merger of

Mylan and Pfizer’s

Upjohn unit, has

transformed HIV

treatment for mil-

lions living with the

virus in low- and

middle-income

nations. In 2017 it

introduced the first

low-cost antiretro-

viral drug with do-

lutegravir, a crucial

first-line HIV treat-

ment; it’s priced at

$75 a year. Viatris

also formulated the

drug for kids, as

easier-to- swallow,

dissolvable

strawberry-flavored

tablets.

6.3%

ELECTRIC AND

PLUG-IN HYBRID

VEHICLES’ SHARE OF

GLOBAL NEW-CAR

SALES, FIRST HALF

OF 2021

100%

SHARE OF NEW

MERCEDES-BENZ

CARS THAT THE

COMPANY HOPES

WILL BE ALL-

ELECTRIC BY 2030

66%

INCREASE IN THE

PRICE OF COBALT,

A KEY EV BATTERY

COMPONENT, SINCE

JAN. 1, 2021

Santander Brasil

is green energy’s

financial engine

in the world’s

sixth-largest na-

tion by popula-

tion. It has been

involved in about

$11 billion worth

of green-power

deals since 2012,

having financed or

structured roughly

a third of Brazil’s

wind-power proj-

ects. Santander has

also made its solar-

panel lending more

generous, with

longer payment

terms and up to

100% financing, to

foster more users.

Daimler

Tackling

Clean Cars’

Dirty Secret

An automaker aims to

take child labor out of the

EV battery supply chain.

STUTTGART, GERMANY

HEAD WRITERS

Matt Heimer

Erika Fry

CONTRIBUTORS

Maria Aspan
Eamon Barrett

Katherine Dunn
Sheryl Estrada

Robert Hackett
Declan Harty

Emma Hinchliffe
Beth Kowitt

Yvonne Lau
Megan Leonhardt

Michal Lev-Ram
Rey Mashayekhi

Jessica Mathews
David Meyer

Sy Mukherjee
Biman Mukherji

Marco Quiroz-
Gutierrez

Anne Sraders
Jonathan Vanian

Phil Wahba
Bernhard Warner

Claire Zillman

Geologists say the fate of

the world’s low-carbon fu-

ture rests with six metals.

Of those, cobalt may be

the most precious and the

most controversial.

The heat-resistant

metal has a melting point

of 1,493 ̊ C, making it an

ideal material to ensure

lithium-ion batteries—the

kind found in laptops,

mobile phones, and, most

important for the climate,

As China aims for net-zero

emissions by 2060, Envision

is playing a key role. It was the

world’s fourth-largest supplier

of wind turbines in 2020. It also

provides energy management

services to more than 360

customers, including tech gi-

ants Microsoft, Accenture, and

Amazon Web Services. In De-

cember, Envision joined other

energy producers in an R&D

initiative to push the cost of

producing “green” hydrogen—

hydrogen fuel made using

renewable energy—to below

$2 per kilogram, the point at

which the clean-burning fuel

can become a viable fossil-fuel

alternative. Envision estimates

it can get there in three years.

In the war for retail talent

during the pandemic, Costco

Wholesale put its money

where its mouth is. Already a

leader in incentives like paid

sick days, Costco in February

raised the internal minimum

wage for its 200,000-plus–

person workforce to $16,

keeping the pressure on

competitors to pay their own

workers more. Not long after-

ward, Amazon and Walmart

each gave raises to hundreds

of thousands of their work-

ers. Costco’s reward for its

efforts: double-digit percent-

age increases in sales—long

after pandemic panic-buying

eased—and customers as

loyal as ever.

NO. 2

Envision Group

Helping China and the tech

world set a green course.

SHANGHAI

NO. 5

Viatris

Expanding

access to a vital

HIV drug.

CANONSBURG, PA.

NO. 3

Costco Wholesale

A stronger safety net

for the retail workforce.

ISSAQUAH, WASH.

6

NO.