Maersk Withdraws Board Member from ICS

One of the largest shipping groups in the world, A.P. Moller-Maersk, has withdrawn its board member from an industry organization after a decade, for reasons understood to be related to climate change. 
 
Following an annual review of trade organization affiliations, the group withdrew its member, Maersk executive and board member Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). Sources claim that the cause has to do with the trade association’s position on climate change. 
 
With over 100,000 employees and operations in 130 countries, Maersk is one of the largest shipping groups in the world. For the past ten years, it has served on the ICS board. 
 
On its website, Maersk stated the following without going into any detail: “We check the status of our membership once a year to make sure that the trade groups we belong to are advocating on behalf of the Paris Agreement’s objectives as well as other important concerns.

Maersk

“This situation should be considered while evaluating our decision to resign from the ICS Board. 
 
The Paris Agreement, which was reached in 2015, is a binding international agreement that intends to slow global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Around 80% of world trade is carried by the shipping sector, which also accounts for 3% of carbon emissions. 
 
It is believed that a spokesperson for Reuters reported that the ICS annual general meeting on June 22 was where the decision to withdraw was made public. Although Maersk is not a direct member of ICS, it belongs to the Danish Shipping trade association, which is. 
 
In order to achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, Maersk, which aspires to have a carbon-neutral fleet by 2030, will now concentrate its efforts on being a member of the World Shipping Council (WSC), a trade association for container carriers. 
 
According to its website, ICS, which has members from more than 40 nations and represents more than 80% of the global commercial fleet, encourages “best practices throughout the shipping sector.”  

Tanith Allen Statement

Director of Manufacturing & Infrastructure for Sustainable Business, Tanith Allen, stated: “Recent changes have been observed in the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, with dramatic revisions being made to both the production and transportation of commodities using an ESG perspective. Corporates are beginning to demand more from the stakeholder groups they are a part of in the same way that activist investors take a limited stance on how a firm is operated and future-proofed. 
 
Acre has worked on numerous executive roles in the multi-stakeholder arena, which is indicative of the fact that business has realized the importance of acting in concert to address common problems. We are already witnessing the direct effect of those organizations’ lack of commitment to sustainability on how their members respect them.”