Boskalis
CONTEXT
Boskalis is a leading global dredging contractor and marine services provider that offers a unique combination of experts, vessels and services. They provide innovative and competitive all around solutions to their clients all the while maintaining the highest safety and sustainability standards.
Traditionally, their core service includes the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defence and riverbank protection. However, today they diversified their services and these include the development, construction, transport, installation, inspection, repair and maintenance and decommissioning of oil and import/export facilities, offshore platforms, pipelines and cables and offshore wind farms. They also provide towage service, emergency response and salvage. They provide this services in more than 27 ports in 36 countries around the world.
DESCRIPTION
Companies working in the field of energy, transport and port activity and support services are not known to be the most sustainable. However, more companies within the industry is working on this issue. They are starting to change and adapting their business practices to a more sustainable manner.
Boskalis for example, are working to “creating and protecting welfare and advancing the energy transition”. These goals is related to 5 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals – affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, climate action and life below water.
Their shared value focus areas recognizes their capability to create economic value while addressing societal needs and challenges. Their 3 shared values include advancing the energy transition, climate change adaptation, and protecting marine ecosystems. Working to advance the energy transition will help facilitate the move to renewable energy source all the while creating value for their clients and business. Some of the services their provide including costal defence and riverbank protection activities enables then to provide innovative solutions to help the world adapt to climate change. The insights they gain through working on these areas include mitigating against the impacts of more extreme weather, rising water levels, flooding and erosion. And last, through their work on salvaging vessels, they help economic value and avert environmental damage.
All this work that they are doing requires a solid foundation. This foundation is their sustainability focus areas that aims to mitigate negative or enhancing positive impacts. These include biodiversity and ecosystems, safety, employee and talent development, local community and development, and climate neutral. Boskalis views partnerships and collaboration as a crucial approach to develop nature-based solutions to protect and enhance coastal ecosystems. For more than a decade, Boskalis has implemented No Injuries No Accidents (NINA) as they wants safety to be part of their working culture. This objective has resulted in a major increase in safety awareness. They are also committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that challenges and inspires their employees to build their careers and achieve their potential. They work on local community and development through creating local jobs, buying locally, and invest int the local community. Their carbon neutral goal focuses on 5 areas – increasing carbon efficiency, seeking sustainable energy sources, developing sustainable solutions, exploring carbon offset and credits, and staying on top of trends.
WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
Boskalis has worked on implementing the programs they have set up in order to continue working on these goals. Their safety program NINA continues to increase safety awareness in their employees. They have also since implemented emissions reduction program that looks into fuel efficiency, new energy sources, carbon offsets and credits and raising awareness on the solutions they developed.
Every year, Boskalis continues to evaluate, report and update their sustainable goals to make sure that their business practices and strategies follow their sustainability goals. As a leader in the industry, Boskalis shows that by implementing programs and/or initiatives, companies can slowly work into becoming more sustainable. Their view on collaboration should also be implemented by companies within and outside of the industry as by working together, a significant impact can be seen within the sustainable goals.
RELEVANT RESOURCES
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