21 Corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and sustainability reporting initiatives provide ways for businesses to set green targets and measure progress towards them. Benchmarking is another way in which organisations can compare their sustainability achievements with those of their peers. The World Benchmarking Alliance has analysed which industries could make the most substantial contributions to achieving each of the SDGs and their corresponding targets. The organisation explains: “While every industry can be linked to each of the 17 SDGs, this map focuses on where a given industry can have the greatest impact, both positive and negative.”1 Sustainability reporting is enabling companies to gain unprecedented insights into the impacts of the full range of their activities, and to share this information with their stakeholders. As the provider of the world’s most widely used sustainability disclosure standards, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) envisions a sustainable future enabled by transparency and open dialogue about impacts.2 International standards are crucial in enabling businesses to track their progress towards sustainability. As can be seen elsewhere in this report, a growing number of ship operators are certified for specific aspects of their performance by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) according to their standards that support the climate agenda. Landmark international agreements driving the sustainability agenda Climate change and protection agreements • 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution • Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985) • Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987) • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) • Kyoto Protocol (1997) • Paris Agreement (2016) Environmental impact assessment agreements • Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention, 1991) • UNECE Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (Protocol on SEA, 2003) Waste management agreements • Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989) • Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation (1999) • Decision of the OECD Council concerning the Control of Transfrontier Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations (1992) • Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009) 1 Source: World Benchmarking Alliance, Measuring What Matters Most 2 Source: Global Reporting Initiative, Our How, Why and What
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=