(August 1, 2011) Toyota is the world’s greenest brand, according to a new global survey from the international brand consultancy Interbrand. The first Best Global Green Brands, published this week, takes into account environmental performance coupled with public perception of a brand’s environmental sustainability — its “green profile” — to produce a Green Performance Score.

Based on data collected from the world’s leading markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, USA, Japan, Brazil and India, the report gives Toyota a top score of 64.19 points, ahead of 3M in second place and Siemens in third place.

The Interbrand report says that Toyota is “a leading example of making the environment a core management priority, while also engaging in a meaningful way with audiences around the world”.

Toyota’s market-leading development of full hybrid technology is a key contributor to Toyota’s strong green performance, according to the report, notably with Prius, now in its third generation. Since 1997, Toyota and Lexus have amassed more than 3.2 million hybrid vehicle sales worldwide*.

Toyota’s long-term, well-to-wheel approach towards sustainable operations is reflected in recent initiatives in the UK. The publishing of the report coincides with the official switch-on of a large-scale solar power system at the company’s car plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, a facility that already enjoys special status as one of Toyota’s global “eco-plants”, leading the way in cleaner and more efficient manufacturing and operations.

Burnaston is also a standard-bearer in Europe for hybrid vehicle production, as the manufacturing center for the full hybrid Auris hatchback.

Elsewhere in Europe, Toyota has recently installed a solar wall at its factory in Valenciennes, France, and it plans to install wind turbines at its vehicle logistics centre in Zeebrugge, Belgium.

The “Best Global Green Brands” report’s measurement methodology was developed by Interbrand together with Deloitte, with the Green Performance Score designed to be applicable across differing industries. While compiling the report, Interbrand also interviewed some 10,000 consumers across 10 of the world’s largest markets to gauge consumer perceptions of a brand’s green performance.

Interbrand, which started in 1974, creates and manages brands as valuable business assets. Interbrand now has 40 offices and is the world’s largest brand consultancy.