Setting the pace in sustainability

With 63 ports and terminals and 155 inland services operations across 64 countries, managing the climate change impact resulting from our operations is a key part of our environmental commitment and we have set an ambitious goal to reduce the CO2 emissions of our terminals by 25% per teu by 2020, based on a 2010 baseline. We are working to identify new technologies, improve operational efficiencies and alternative energy sources that can help us achieve this ambitious target. These are applied in many of our terminals, for example the recent selection of fuel efficient diesel-electric powered Lift Automated Guided Vehicles at Maasvlakte II in the port of Rotterdam, the planned implementation of shore side electric power at pier 400, Los Angeles and the trialing of electric-RTGs at the port of Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia.

At the present time emissions reduction initiatives are an attractive environmental management measure for companies, as there is often an associated benefit of fuel and cost reductions. This package of environmental and cost improvement as a result of emissions reduction is also of importance to APM Terminals. However, alongside this we are also working to improve our environmental performance in the broader sense of the word, by addressing environmental and social considerations that go beyond managing only our carbon footprint.

Environmental and social considerations throughout the entire project lifecycle
With six new terminal development projects and 12 expansion programs now underway, infrastructure investment is currently big business at APM Terminals. Our focus is in high growth emerging markets and Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Georgia are just a few of the countries where we have recently made considerable investments. It is essential that we undertake our growth in a sustainable manner and to design, develop, operate and maintain economically, environmentally and socially advantaged facilities. To this end, we have initiated a process to improve the way in which environmental and social considerations are taken into account throughout the APM Terminals project lifecycle, with improvements to internal processes and minimum standards to be met across all our developments.

Many of our projects require an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in order to get approval for construction and operations from the local authorities within the country of development and/or in order to meet any lender requirements. Used well, ESIA is one of the most effective methods for pro-actively addressing environmental and social issues of our new terminal developments. It is a recognised process that can be strategically phased in with the project life-cycle so that the right tasks are being undertaken at the right time in the project. In this way, there is continued interaction between the environmental and social specialists, the design and engineering specialists and the project stakeholders throughout and issues can be effectively managed and opportunities realised. With such a large and varied portfolio of projects we need to have a flexible approach, but by developing a globally consistent, internationally recognised approach to ESIA’s so that we can work with our consultants to meet the needs and expectations of our regulators, lenders and stakeholders, we will enhance our environmental and social performance in 2012 and beyond.

Focus on socio-economic development
Through financial investment in high growth markets and the promotion of global trade and world class operations, we create positive effects in terms of local economic growth and socio-economic influence. In 2010, we undertook a socio-economic study of our Apapa Terminal, in Lagos, Nigeria. This highlighted some of the broader socio-economic benefits of our operations at Apapa Terminal, including enabling trade, creating jobs and prosperity, investing in society, and sharing technology and knowledge. The study estimated that 72% of the total turnover at Apapa was re-circulated back into society, with 45% going directly to the local community in the form of local procurement, salaries and taxes. All told, an estimated 32,000 direct and indirect jobs were created in Lagos and elsewhere in Nigeria as a result of operations at Apapa Terminal.

Moving forward, in 2012 we will begin development of a framework for socio-economic assessment at APM Terminals. We will start by identifying key socio-economic themes, issues and indicators as well as identifying standards that we can apply across our port and terminal network. As part of this we will undertake stakeholder analysis and will define data collection methods to provide information on ‘baseline’ socio-economic situations using a set of measureable socio-economic indicators across themes such as employment, health and safety, environment, anti-corruption, knowledge and education etc. The benefits of these studies are threefold: providing local stakeholders with information on our operations, activities, social contributions and impacts, enabling APM Terminals to understand its social context and identify strategic social investment activities an,; providing a reference point from which to monitor and manage the effects of the port over time on local communities. The knowledge gained from these studies will be disseminated to support sustainability efforts across our global network of terminals.

Focus on biodiversity
Biodiversity as an indicator for environmental health is well established, however, in recent years biodiversity has also become increasingly recognised as an important factor for human well being, through the provision of ecosystem services.

Our risks to biodiversity primarily arise from the development of or expansions to new terminal and port facilities, particularly in emerging markets and in non-urban areas. These risks can be managed by incorporating biodiversity into investment decisions and by ensuring any impacts to biodiversity, as a result of our developments, are addressed through the ESIA process. For example, in 2011, APM Terminals in Pipavav, India, completed a mangrove plantation in an area of 500 hectares along the coast. The plantation was created as part of an expansion project and as a compensation measure for the loss of an area of mangrove within the footprint of the terminal expansion. The plantation and its ongoing management is part of Pipavav port’s commitment towards environment conservation and management.

In 2011, APM Terminals took part in a strategic environmental risk screening across its portfolio of terminals. The results of the screening process highlighted biodiversity as one of the priority areas for attention. 2012 is a year for consolidating our knowledge on our biodiversity risks and gaining a better understanding of our existing and new activities in relation to sensitive biodiversity areas. From this we will be developing a strategy to help manage and mitigate any significant risks to biodiversity from our operations as well as incorporate biodiversity impacts into investment decisions.

Long term sustainable business success
APM Terminals is setting the pace by going past the average and focusing on managing environmental and social risks across the project lifecycle, improving our global process management and contributing to socio economic development and protection to biodiversity. With a process of continuous improvement across a spectrum of sustainability areas APM Terminals will achieve long term sustainable business success.

Executive biography
Claire Bryant joined APM Terminals in 2011 as general manager for environment within the global HSSE & CSR department. Claire focuses on the improvement of the environmental and social performance of APM Terminals throughout the organisation, including ports, terminals, inland services, new business development and business implementation. Prior to joining APM Terminals, Claire worked as a consultant providing specialist advice on environmental management and sustainability to governments, port authorities, operators and investors.