Essilor has been recognised by Fortune as one of the top 52 companies that ‘Change the World,’ for its aim to eradicate poor vision worldwide by 2050.

Chairman Hubert Sagnières said, “We receive Fortune’s award with pride and responsibility. This distinction is a tremendous endorsement, as we are building a sustainable business model to solve a global problem at scale.”

Essilor estimates 6.6 billion people will need vision correction by 2050, five billion of which will be myopic. Sagnières added, “We are committed to achieving our ambition to eradicate poor vision. As an industry leader, we believe it is our duty to continue pushing the boundaries of optical solutions; all Essilor’s employees, from leadership to shop floor, share and live this ambition.

“Following our recent combination with Luxottica, we are now the industry leader across optical products and instruments, with an even larger platform and greater scale to achieve our goal.”

Fortune's ‘Change the World’ list recognises companies with annual revenue of over $1 billion that are making a positive social impact as part of their core business strategy.