Page 22 - 2022 - Q2 - Minerva in Focus

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) IN SHIPPING
ESG in Shipping Requires

Deep Domain Expertise

Shipping is a unique industry, with a vast tackle the environmental issue effectively. It is
stakeholder network that spans ship- at this crossroads that people and technology SETTING THE COURSE TO
yards, shipowners, operators, charterers, come together to create sustainable business
investors, governments, regulators, and results.
many more. Each has wide-ranging in-
terests, from commercial opportunities Having a commercially-competitive fleet and
to addressing environmental concerns, constantly staying under an ambitious decar-
protecting the marine environment, and bonisation trajectory while also having zero PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE SHIPPING
improving crew and cargo safety. lost-time incidents can only be achieved by
taking an intentional, balanced approach to the
The collective challenge that the shipping ESG elements.
industry faces is how to build a customised,
sustainable and effective Environmental, Considering the societal element, focusing on
Social, and Governance (ESG) framework that crew welfare needs like the health, safety, and
optimises its metrics, reporting, and competi- security of people as well as the diversity and
tive position against broader goals across the safety of cargo becomes even more critical in
entire value chain. an increasingly digital world and evolving ship-
to-shore interface.
The nature of shipping - capital intensive, glob-
al, and highly regulated, with emissions that Equally important is having the right govern-
are hard to abate - accentuates the challenges ance structures to address emerging asset and
of the ESG. What is new is that ESG asks for corporate risk in a rapidly evolving regulatory,
performance beyond the regulatory threshold. technological, and business environment.
ESG will define future trajectories. It requires
top management engagement so that the There are many potential ESG criteria and
whole company is driven towards continuous frameworks. Still, shipping’s very specific char-
improvement in a new series of KPIs. acteristics mean that some companies may
struggle to have those aspects properly repre-
We talk a lot about the “E” aspect, which is sented in their reports and thus unnecessarily
understandable given the importance of the increase their ESG risk.
decarbonisation agenda, the principal focus of
our industry for some time now. Ultimately, ESG covers the entire value chain,
in which suppliers, clients, employees, and
But we should not downplay the equal im- even governments are pushing each other
portance of the “S” and the “G.” The power to improve performance to ensure their own
lies in giving equal weight to both. We need benchmarks continue to trend in the desired
the elements of society and governance to direction.

“

The nature of shipping -
capital intensive, global,
and highly regulated, with

emissions that are hard to
abate - accentuates the
challenges of the ESG.
”
by Georgios Zindros,
ABS Manager,
Greece Business Development DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

22 MINERVA IN FOCUS – ISSUE 20 / Q2 2022 TODAY TO LEARN MORE. SAFETY LEADERSHIP
www.eagle.org/sustainability IN A CHANGING WORLD