We all have a responsibility towards our environment, our planet. For a long time, companies have aligned their activities in this field as “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR): they try their utmost to operate in a way that enhances rather than degrades society and environment. It helps both improve various aspects of society as well as promote a positive brand image of the company.
Over the years Corporate Social Responsibility has broadened, evolved, and further developed. For example, nowadays companies, their shareholders, investors, and other stakeholders want to know the impact of their decisions on sustainability. The framework “Environmental, Social and Governance” (ESG) helps to understand how an organization manages risks and opportunities around sustainability issues. ESG covers a wide range of issues that may have a direct or indirect impact on financial relevance.
Environmental factors refer to an organization’s environmental impact(s) and risk management practices. Amongst others these include direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, management’s stewardship over natural resources, and the firm’s overall resiliency against physical climate risks like climate change, flooding, and fires.
The Social pillar refers to an organization’s relationships with stakeholders. Examples of factors that a firm may be measured against include Human Capital Management metrics (like fair wages and employee engagement) but also an organization’s impact on the communities in which it operates.
Corporate governance refers to how an organization is led and managed. Issues include shareholders’ rights, board diversity, compensation of executives aligned with the company’s sustainability performance, and matters of the corporate behavior such as anti-competitive practices and corruption.
Green Award supports the ESG Shipping Awards initiative. Our executive director Jan Fransen is one of the judges.
In 2015 all 193 member states of the United Nations adopted the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. This agenda provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
At its hearts are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are an urgent call for action by all countries in a
global partnership. The UN’s member states recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go together with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth, all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. The 17 SDGs each consist of targets, events, publications, and actions.
In the certification programmes of Green Award for seagoing and EU inland navigation there are overall 200+ items in the certification requirements which are consistent to 13 of the UN SDGs. These goals remain to be the compass towards the development of our future programmes.
There’s a nice video explaining the 17 SDGs.