Biodiversity Indicators to be explored at a consultative meeting of th...

Biodiversity Indicators to be explored at a consultative meeting of the ESG Network – All members welcome

Published: 25 October 2023

There is a need to harmonise the efforts of reducing shipping's negative impacts on marine biodiversity with the drive for decarbonisation. This special meeting of the BIMCO ESG Network will provide members with an opportunity to provide their input into the proposed development of an initiative coordinated by the SSI to evaluate shipping’s impact more broadly on ocean health - ensuring the project outcomes are both practicable and valuable for the industry.

In recent years, the shipping industry has become increasingly aware of its role in environmental sustainability. Whilst reporting on climate-related disclosures is becoming more important and is nestled in new ambitious goals set by the IMO, there is a growing awareness of “nature-related disclosures”.

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) have identified that there is a need for a comprehensive initiative that evaluates shipping's impact on ocean health, aligns decarbonisation initiatives with biodiversity preservation, engages the shipping community, and formulates strategies to address adverse impacts. Concurrently, the BIMCO ESG Network have identified biodiversity, habitat destruction and fragmentation, direct species impacts and pollution levels as future areas of concern and focus. Furthermore, biodiversity indicators are key components of the EU Taxonomy and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EUCSRD) and so there is a regulatory imperative, within Europe at least, to gather some understanding.

This new initiative being coordinated by the SSI will explore five areas of biodiversity loss - changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of natural resources, climate change, pollution, invasive species as well as seeking to identify other areas related to shipping activities. The research will embed specifics on known major impacts from shipping, and indicate any existing regulation, good practices, or other work currently in existence around these issues. The research will propose a draft set of milestones for shipping to achieve in relation to decarbonisation, ocean health and biodiversity in 2030, 2040, and 2050.

This special meeting of the ESG Network will provide BIMCO members with an opportunity not only to learn more about marine biodiversity and shipping but to provide their input into the work and the milestones as we provide support to ensure the project is both practicable and valuable for the industry. We encourage attendance from representatives of members who have responsibility for all aspects of environmental sustainability.

To allow for maximum attendance there will be two sessions to allow participation across several time zones. You would only need to attend one of the two sessions.

Date: Thursday 9 November 2023

Time: Session 1: 10:00 to 11:15 (CEST)

Time: Session 2: 17:00 to 18:15 (CEST)

Venue: Online using Teams

To register please email Dr Bev Mackenzie bm@bimco.org.

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