The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has reiterated the importance of the new requirement for Sustainability/Integrated reporting at its recent Maritime Sustainability Workshop held in M Hotel, Singapore on August 22, 2016.
The workshop encouraged the maritime sector to embrace the new Sustainability/Integrated reporting requirement that was introduced in June this year by the Singapore Exchange (SGX). The requirement is on a ‘comply’ or ‘explain’ basis and necessitates companies to publish a sustainability report at least once a year, no later than 5 months after the end of each financial year, describing the sustainability practises including the ethical, sustainable and corporate governance factors, policies, practices & performance, targets, sustainability reporting framework and the Board Statement.
During the workshop, Special Advisor to SGX, Ms Yeo Lian Sim, explained the rationale for the new requirement and a number of talks were given by industry experts on Sustainability Best Practices.
It was also announced that a new co-funding initiative would take place to assist SGX-listed maritime companies in Singapore with the production of their Sustainability Reports. MPA will co-fund 50% of the qualifying costs, up to a cap of $50,000 per company. The funding to the first 10 approved applications is on a reimbursement basis.
Mr Tan Suan Jow, MPA’s Director of Shipping, also spoke of the MPA’s incentive schemes to encourage maritime companies to embrace efforts to reduce the environmental impact of shipping and its related activities. Companies’ initiatives in reducing environmental impact, social causes and corporate governance will also be part of the co-funding considerations. Companies who take up this co-funding will have to publish their sustainability report using world standards such as but not limited to Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines, before 31 Dec 2017.
This co-funding initiative is part of the new Green Awareness Programme under the enhanced Maritime Singapore Green Initiative announced in July this year. The Green Awareness Programme’s objective is to create greater awareness on possible avenues towards sustainable shipping.
Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA commented: “MPA is the first local maritime organisation to publish both an Integrated Report and Sustainability Report last year, and we hope to encourage the rest of the maritime industry to adopt the best practices and mitigate any risks to the environment arising from their operations. The so-called triple bottom-line – people, planet and profits – will enhance their shareholder value.”
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