AAL Shipping has met its annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, according to its 2023 sustainability report.
This is the second sustainabiulity report published by AAL Shipping. The latest report evaluates the multipurpose shipping line’s ESG activities in alignment with the internationally recognised Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. In addition to meeting its goals as set out in the 2022 sustainability report, the company also experienced a substantial increase in the level of happiness for employees.
Steward Chen, research and analytics manager, and member of the sustainability committee, said: “Our initiatives over the years that focus on the social side of our ESG strategy is where we have seen real benefits. We have created an environment for our staff that protects their mental health and well-being and encourages personal and professional development. This is an area we are particularly proud of, as often it is something that is only looked at when it is too late. While the result of our employee survey is confirmation that our efforts are bearing fruit, we will continually strive for improvement.”
Felix Schoeller, AAL Shipping director and head of its sustainability committee, commented on the governance side of its strategy: “In recent years, several geopolitical events have heightened the importance of good corporate governance and compliance. Our existing governance framework ensures that we not only stay abreast of these issues but periodically review our approach to maintain best practice.”
He added: “Producing this sustainability report is in itself a testament to that, and part of the reasoning behind benchmarking our performance against GRI Standards. We also firmly believe that good governance is to the benefit of the whole industry and in the past year joined the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) to support their efforts in eliminating all forms of maritime corruption.”
He went on to say that the path to decarbonisation is a long-term undertaking and that AAL has made steady progress in this arena. “We are not only joining the industry push towards greener operations and working towards compliance with upcoming environmental goals, but taking proactive steps in initiatives that support the sector’s sustainability efforts, such as our participation in the Smart Freight Centre’s (SFC) methodology to harmonise emissions accounting and reporting in the breakbulk segment,” explained Schoeller.
Working with Grow Sustainability Consulting, the report covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2023, and observes related operations of AAL headquarters in Singapore and its branch offices in Australia, China, Japan, Middle East, Europe and the Americas.
