“We have an undeniable responsibilty to keep our people safe, to protect the oceans, and to work holistically with communities where we operate.”
Laurence W. Odfjell, Chair
Decarbonization will remain high on our agenda, but many new elements of sustainability will become increasingly essential for mitigating risk and making the most of opportunities in coming years. Our climate risk assessment is published on our website here.
Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, threatening billions of people's lives and livelihoods. It is not enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement. We need to get to zero. That is why Odfjell has set a clear target to be climate neutral by 2050. Today, we are ahead of the curve, and our efforts continue at full speed.
The zero transition also provides many new opportunities within technology development, sustainable finance, cooperation, and partnerships. For shipping, the biggest obstacle to achieving zero is not the technology on board; it is the fuel infrastructure and availability of green fuels at a competitive price and availability of green energy to produce green fuel.
New technology and ongoing digitalization give us deeper insights into our business, increase efficiency, and solve sustainability issues. We will continue developing solutions to expand our knowledge, mitigate emissions and further improve circularity in our value chain.
Today, we have the most energy-efficient fleet in our sector. We believe that this pole position will open new opportunities. We are well placed to be the preferred provider for our customers when a price on carbon is implemented in EU, new IMO regulations come into force in 2023 and the growing attention to Scope 3 emissions will require customers to report the transport fottpring of their products.
At Odfjell, decarbonization is, and will continue to be, integrated in our ship management and tankers business. But there are also new areas of sustainability emerging and growing in importance: The EU taxonomy, regulation, and reporting requirements will continue to drive our efforts, not only on climate but on water, circular economy, pollution prevention, restoration of ecosystems, nature and biodiversity. You can find our EU taxonomy reporting here.
One example is the 'Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures' (TNFD), where we support developing a framework for naturerelated actions and reporting. This goes hand in hand with the new EU Taxonomy objectives, the G7 Nature Compact, and the IMO's attention to shipping's impact on marine life. Our world must become not only net zero, but nature positive. Our Nature risk assessment iaw TNFD framework is presented here.
Securing human rights and strengthening Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) will remain a priority moving forward. It is a part of our responsibility as a global business, and essential to ensure our future success.
Odfjell, and our industry, will go through a significant transition in the coming years and we need a diverse team of employees to succeed. We need to attract and retain the best talent to maintain our strong organization, seize opportunities, reach our ambitious targets, and keep our leading position.
