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DUTCH MARITIME PILOTS
‘Organisation works towards a sustainable future Worthwhile, necessary and right’
6 NAVIGATOR NL 2018 N° 18
In 2017, the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation introduced its own comprehensive policy for corporate social responsibility. Project leader Mark Snijders concisely sums up the reasons: “Because it is worthwhile, because it is necessary and because it is the right thing to do.” The measurable reduction of CO2 emissions is an important focal point of the policy, but it definitely encompasses much more.
“Our corporate social responsibility policy revolves around three pillars: People, Planet and Profit,” explains Snijders. “We aim to operate safely and be a good employer (People); we also want to cause minimal damage to the environment (Planet) and we for example strive to reduce our consumption and do all our purchasing collectively in a sustainable way (Profit). Our goal is to achieve our business objectives in a socially responsible manner, with a positive impact on society and on our organisation.”
For the Dutch Maritime Pilots’ Organisation, action speaks louder than words. To achieve its sustainability goals, the organisation uses strict guidelines (the Dutch ‘MVO-Wijzer’) which are based on the interna- tional ISO 26000 standard for corporate social responsibility. Concrete objectives are formulated for People, Planet and Profit each year.
“We did this for the first time in 2018,” says Snijders whilst showing a list of highly diverse actions. These range from an annual day on which employees jointly support a social goal (“this year we fished plastic from Amsterdam’s canals”) and participation in innovative projects together with partners to a substantial focus on reducing CO2 emissions. The global Paris Agreement aimed at tackling climate change, the European Energy Efficiency Directive and an agreement made within the IMO to reduce the shipping industry’s CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2050 add extra urgency to the latter.