Praxair is the Only Industrial Gas Company Selected for Dow Jones Sustainability World Index

DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the eighth consecutive year, Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) has been selected as a component of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Praxair is the only industrial gases company in the 2010-2011 World Index. Membership in the index ranks Praxair among the top nine chemical companies worldwide in terms of sustainability leadership. Only 318 companies in 57 industry sectors worldwide were selected, and in the chemical sector, only four companies have been selected in eight consecutive years.

“Every year, the bar is raised for inclusion in this index, and every year for the past eight years Praxair employees around the world have demonstrated an increasing commitment to good corporate governance and sustainable economic, social, energy-efficient and environmental practices”

Praxair is also a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, a sub-set of the World Index.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Index was launched in 1999 to track the performance of leading corporations that are committed to sustainability on a global scale. Corporations are selected for the index after a thorough assessment of a wide range of economic, environmental and social criteria. Among the areas evaluated are corporate governance, environmental performance, risk management, supply-chain standards and labor practices.

"Every year, the bar is raised for inclusion in this index, and every year for the past eight years Praxair employees around the world have demonstrated an increasing commitment to good corporate governance and sustainable economic, social, energy-efficient and environmental practices,” said Praxair Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel.

Among the more recent sustainability activities at Praxair are the introduction of updated greenhouse-gas reduction targets for offices, air separation units and hydrogen plants worldwide; the integration of greenhouse-gas targets into project design and R&D applications development; and quantifying the carbon productivity of selected Praxair products and applications. The company recently developed two white papers that demonstrate the net benefit of hydrogen production to the environment. These papers can be found on www.praxair.com in the Innovation > Green Technologies section.

More information on Praxair's corporate responsibility activities is available on www.praxair.com in the Corporate Responsibility section.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2009 sales of $9 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies bring productivity and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.