As Director of Business Development, Magnús Salberg Óskarsson oversees Samskip’s corporate strategy, which has sustainability embedded in its centre. Magnús is responsible for the sustainability department too, so it’s safe to say he is in the centre of the action. Today, he is interviewed by Laurens Dourleijn, Samskip’s Sustainability Manager.
Magnús, how did Samskip develop its sustainability strategy and integrate it into the corporate strategy?
It begins with a clear mission, vision, and measurable objectives. We are committed to be climate neutral in 2040, and we will need everyone to play their part in getting there. We engage stakeholders at all levels—from top management to frontline employees—to foster a culture of sustainability. We have placed sustainability literally at the centre of our corporate strategy, to emphasize the impact of sustainability on our business.
How do you then turn strategic goals into tangible actions and results, especially in a price-sensitive industry?
That’s a tough challenge indeed. The key is to break down the strategic goals into smaller actions and projects, and create tailor-made solutions for the different parts of our business. There is no one solution for all. We have focused on identifying initiatives that can deliver both environmental and long-term economic benefits. By doing so, we ensure that sustainability remains at the forefront of our operations without compromising our competitive edge. A great example of this is the new Samskip SeaShuttle which will run on green hydrogen and will be tailor-made for out Rotterdam-Oslo routes.
How does new ESG legislation impact your strategy? Is it beneficial or just more administrative work?
We stay ahead by proactively incorporating ESG legislation into our strategic planning. Legislation has become a valuable tool, guiding our initiatives and ensuring compliance. For instance, one of our main focus areas this year is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), a European sustainability reporting legislation. We view the CSRD as a toolbox that helps us to work on the topics that matter most to us.
But how do you ensure that the legislation is working for you, and not the other way around? How do you make sure you’re working towards the relevant topics?
In 2023, we conducted our first Double Materiality Assessment, engaging key internal and external stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders through the Double Materiality Assessment allowed us to ask, "What matters to you?". This bottom-up approach for a topic that’s typically driven from the boardroom, has enabled us to create a strategy that truly represents and resonates with our people. By understanding their perspectives, we can ensure that our sustainability efforts are aligned with the expectations and needs of both our employees and our external stakeholders.
Can you make an estimation of the impact of this CSRD on the way Samskip organizes itself regarding sustainability?
ESG reporting is now becoming as critical as financial reporting. Strategies, targets, actions, and metrics across the company are being aligned with the ESG strategy. It’s a huge undertaking, but I am confident it will create a lot of value, not just for us as a company, but for the environment in which we operate, and the people we affect with our work.
The continuous challenge of turning strategic goals into actionable results is what keeps us engaged. We’re driven by the need to balance short-term challenges with long-term objectives, all while maintaining compliance with evolving ESG legislation. This dynamic environment ensures that we are constantly innovating and improving our sustainability practices.
Thank you, Magnús. Your insights show Samskip’s dedication, and the strategic planning that’s required to keep sustainability at the core of our business.
The DMA aims to identify important sustainability topics from two perspectives: impact materiality and financial materiality. In simple terms, it means evaluating both a company's impacts on the world around it (impact materiality) and how sustainability factors can affect the company itself (financial materiality). This approach ensures that companies disclose relevant information about their most significant sustainability matters to stakeholders.
Companies will be required to report on these important issues, as mandated by the CSRD requirements.
Understanding a company’s key environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is crucial for developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy. We continuously refine our understanding of the ESG matters relevant to Samskip by conducting regular materiality assessments. In 2021, we conducted our inaugural materiality analysis for all entities within Samskip BV. In 2022, we enhanced this process by aligning the methodology with the ESRS and emphasizing stakeholder engagement. This comprehensive assessment involved both internal and external stakeholders from diverse expertise, who contributed their knowledge and perspectives. This collaborative effort resulted in a sustainability strategy that is effective for our employees, as it was developed using a bottom-up approach. Building on this momentum, in 2023, Samskip conducted a thorough DMA, looking at the outside-in and inside-out perspectives, analysing impacts, risks, and opportunities. This will further our sustainability ambitions prepare Samskip for upcoming regulatory requirements, such as those from the CSRD.
The first step involved the thorough evaluation of Samskip’s value chain, along upstream, downstream, and direct operations. These activities are mapped against relevant stakeholder groups that either have direct, contributing, or indirect relationships to Samskip. This allows the determination of scope for the assessment.
Based on the value chain scope, a long list of 89 potential topics was evaluated. These topics were gathered through a meticulous review of ESRS drafts, benchmarks, and desk research. The aim was to assess their relevance to Samskip's operations and sustainability objectives.
Once the long list of topics was determined, each topic was scored based on the ESRS required criteria. See section below for further elaboration.
The scoring of each impact enables us to establish materiality thresholds, which, in turn, facilitates the categorisation of the material topics list into ten overarching ESG issues. These issues are strategically prioritised with stakeholder validation.
The third step of Samskip’s DMA evaluates each identified relevant topic from two separate perspectives, the inside-out or impact perspective where positive and negative impacts are assessed and the outside-in or financial perspective where risks and opportunities are assessed. Each perspective has its own criteria as follow:
The impact materiality score is an average of the actual and potential negative and positive scores of the topic, which is assessed by considering Samskip's impact on the ESG topoc through:
The financial materiality score is an average of the actual and potential risks and opportunities, which is assessed by the extent to which the ESG topics influences Samskip in terms of:
To get the full scope of the financial and impact materiality of Samskip, we incorporate the views of all the stakeholders who both influence our work and are impacted by it. This is no easy feat. First, we gather a diverse group of stakeholders who are involved with various functions throughout Samskip to be interviewed. This enables us to bring forward the voices of 10 stakeholder groups (see image below), from customers to local communities, ensuring that our assessment captures the perspectives of those who impact and are impacted by Samskip’s operations. In doing this, we get a clearer and more complete picture of how we are doing and how we can improve.
"The financial risk of climate change is very high, given the costs that will occur due to the prices of fossil fuels, and when we would do nothing the impacts of EU ETS will increasingly come in as well."
"As a transport company, Samskip is required to combat bringing in foreign species to foreign parts in the world. Biodiversity really is the next wave of sustainability focus."
"We are looking into yards worldwide for building our new vessels, and we are investigating how we can be sustainable with the fuel cells that will power them. Without investment and focus on resource use, Samskip would not be able to keep up with the market. It is a must to focus on resource use and circular economy."
"Gender equality is increasingly important. There is a shift happening in the last years in the field of gender equality and more women are joining the world of transport and logistics."
"Labour rights vary from country to country, even in the European Union. Standards and contracts in Poland are different from the Netherlands, although people are the same. Decreasing differences and striving for equal rights for people throughout the value chain and regardless of country of residence, would have positive impact on people's lives."
The findings of the optimised assessment provide granular insights into the extent of impact and financial materiality associated with each overarching topic identified. These results underscore a crucial consideration: currently, our adverse impact outweigh our positive contributions, particularly for environmental topics. Likewise, the financial risks we face carry greater weight than the opportunities across most themes.
In response to these revelations, Samskip is poised to embark in an ESG strategy that aims to not only mitigate negative impacts and financial risks, but to amplify our positive footprint and seize upon financial opportunities.
As a logistics company, Samskip is mindful of the impact our operations and supply chain have on the environment. We aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3) by minimising our energy use and implementing measures to mitigate and adapt to climate risks, exploring new technologies and renewable energy opportunities.
Samskip recognises the importance of minimising its impact on the environment and human health in the logistics industry. Our goal is to promote sustainable practices that protect natural resources and minimise pollution in our value chain.
We recognize the importance of promoting sustainable practices that support biodiversity and natural resources. We are conscious about our impact on biodiversity and ecosystems, and we’re taking measures to reduce, rehabilitate, and restore negative impacts in our value chain.
As a logistics company, we recognise the importance of resource efficiency and waste reduction. We are committed to innovating with renewable materials and exploring ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials and waste in our whole value chain.
Samskip is committed to promoting social and economic equality and inclusion for our workforce and third-party workers. We believe that promoting equal remuneration, representation, and opportunities regardless of gender or background are essential for our business.
We are committed to promoting and protecting the fundamental human and labour rights of our employees and everyone working in our value chain. We believe that providing our employees with basic living conditions is an obvious necessity, and we aim to always provide safe and fair working conditions for all.
Samskip recognises the importance of promoting a healthy and safe working environment for our employees and contractors. We are committed to ensuring safe operations and protecting the physical and mental well-being of our workforce and contractors.
We value our employees and recognise the importance of attracting and retaining talented professionals. We believe that investing in the technical and professional skills of our workforce is key to our success. We provide training and education to support the futureproofing of our workforce, and we aim to create a positive and supportive working environment.
At Samskip, we believe that conducting our business ethically and responsibly is essential to our long-term success. We have policies and practices in place that promote ethical behaviour and decision-making, protect sensitive data, and mitigate financial risks. We also encourage open communication and feedback from our stakeholders to ensure we meet their expectations and positively contribute to society. We recognise that we rely on many suppliers and partners in our day-to-day operations, and we hold ourselves accountable for their conduct as well.
We have developed a sustainability strategy based on the findings of the initial DMA conducted in 2023. We recognized the importance of having a well-defined strategy supported by SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) targets.
The ESRS guidelines for setting targets are closely linked to the SMART methodology and suggest that the targets should adhere to the following criteria:
Our ambition is well-defined, and we have assigned clear responsibilities to achieve them. We aspire to become an employer that prioritises excellence and the well-being of our employees and the communities involved in our activities. We have embedded international labour and human rights into our policies to ensure our ambition is upheld in all the places where our freight is transported.
Conducting our business ethically is not an option; it is a must. To achieve this, we have set up safeguards and to actively reduce the risk of immoral business behaviour. Complying with the CSRD and developing our sustainability management system ensures that we have a robust management system for business ethics, data protection, and responsible procurement. This system helps safeguard our operations and relations with external stakeholders, especially suppliers, from corruption.
Additionally, we have ensured that our strategy and targets align with international initiatives such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Samskip is dedicated to being a part of the 4,000 organizations leading the way to a net-zero economy by establishing emissions reduction goals and having them verified by the SBTi.
Since our commitment, we have engaged climate experts to help us set targets for our operations, including maritime activities.
Our climate targets align with the 1.5-degree trajectory recommended in the Paris Climate Accord and have been established for our organization and our maritime activities, focusing on container vessels. At time of writing, our targets are being verified by the SBTi, we expect final approval by Q4 2024.
In 2020, Samskip committed to developing its Sustainability Management System (SMS) as a key part of its journey towards compliance with European regulations. Although it started as an exercise for compliance with extrinsic pressure, the learnings on this journey led us to become intrinsically motivated to optimise our SMS and practices.
Over the years, Samskip has built a robust and recognised management system, which EcoVadis evaluates annually. Based on the evaluation feedback, Samskip has implemented an action plan. Our management systems for environmental protection, labour and human rights, business ethics, and sustainable procurement are formalised and link together our targeted strategy, measures, and reporting.
We implemented our SMS with EcoVadis methodology that is in line with globally recognized guidelines and principles, such as ISO26000 and the UNGC principles. We are now taking a step further, by combining the SMS with our materiality assessment results. This ensures the effective targeting of areas where Samskip has the most significant impacts, risks, and opportunities.
Implementing a SMS involves integrating sustainability matters into organisational strategies, operations, and decision-making processes. It entails setting clear goals, implementing effective practices, and continuously monitoring while evaluating and improving performance across all relevant topics.
Score: 74
EcoVadis provides a holistic sustainabilityratings service of companies, covering a broad range of non-financialmanagement systems, including environmentaland human rights, business ethics, and sustainable procurement impacts. Thecertification helps companies improve their sustainability practices, buildtheir reputation, and demonstrate their commitment to responsible businesspractices.
Available for Samskip Multimodal BV
Expiration date: June 16, 2025
ISO 14001 is an international standard for managing environmental sustainability. It requires the development and implementation of an appropriate environmental policy for the organisation, with a focus on continuous improvement, preventing pollution, controlling environmental risks, and complying with applicable laws.
For Samskip, Resilience signifies a company's ability to adapt and thrive amid environmental, social, and economic challenges. By prioritizing sustainability, we not only ensure long-term viability but also demonstrate a commitment to positive impact, resource efficiency, and ethical practices. This holistic approach fortifies Samskip's operations against future uncertainties, making it better equipped to sustain growth and success while contributing to the well-being of the broader community and environment.