BP excluded from FTSE4Good ethical index

British oil giant BP has been removed from the FTSE4Good ethical index after a similar exclusion from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index earlier this year for the social and environmental impact brought on by its massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

BP was among eight other companies to be ousted from the social investment index series by the UK index provider FTSE Group over concerns related to human rights, environment damage, climate change and other similar issues.

Earlier this year, the London-based BP was thrown out from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index that tracks the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.

The FTSE4Good ethical index is used by many ethical and responsible investors to invest their funds in companies that meet the stringent ethical criterion which govern the indexes.

Giving reasons for removing BP as an ethical company, the FTSE Group said, ''The Committee's decision to remove BP followed consideration of the company's response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the environmental and social impact and its history of similar incidents.''

BP now holds the dubious record for creating the worst oil spill in world history after its Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on 20 April killing 11 workers and the oil major was able to cap the leaking oil well only three months later on 16 July, but not before the well had spewed between 90.4 and 178.6 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico (See: BP caps Gulf of Mexico oil spill), destroying marine ecology in the area.