Insight article
How Shearwater supports UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
1 Aug 2024
“Peace and prosperity for people and the planet..” is the aim of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability is core to Shearwater’s strategy and we have embedded it into our code of conduct and other working principles and policies.In 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit. The Agenda has 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They were created with the aim of "peace and prosperity for people and the planet..." while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests. The UN's SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability.
Shearwater focuses on nine of the Goals, on which we can have the greatest impact considering our own business priorities. These fall into four areas:
- Environmental impact through our activities.
- Social engagement by our people and organization.
- Governance and ethics through responsible business conduct.
- ESG integration and culture by all employees and collaboration with our suppliers to take active ownership to deliver on our sustainability strategy.
Below we take you through how Shearwater supports the nine UN SDG goals we prioritise.
Goal 1. No poverty
Our compensation policy provides levels of compensation that are higher than the minimum level observed locally, through regular benchmarks, in countries where legislation guaranteeing a minimum wage is lacking.
We finance host countries with income tax contributions. In developing countries, these contributions to government revenues can finance nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures.
Goal 4. Quality education
To increase the number of people who have relevant skills, we provide internships, cadetships, trainee positions in many countries. And we offer Reveal licenses to universities.
We support elimination of gender disparities in education through our gender targets. In the future, we’ll become more explicit in providing opportunities for persons with differing abilities.
We ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development through our e-learning, environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) culture workshops and annual appraisal review.
Goal 5. Gender equality
We support the end of all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere.
We ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities at all levels of decision making through our target to reach 30% women in our top three onshore management positions by 2026.
Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy
Our business model and strategy help energy companies to provide affordable, accessible and reliable energy for all.
Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth
Decent work and human rights and how we address them are clearly defined in our Code of Conduct.
We want to achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technology upgrading and innovation. Our strategy and business model diversifies into new areas such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and Multi-Client Acquisitions.
To support local economic growth, we contribute directly to local communities through tax, employment of local content on our offshore vessels and local purchasing.
Our business of collecting seismic data lead to local growth and employment opportunities when the areas we survey are set in production.
Remuneration – We have put in place a grading structure to make sure all our employees in the defined job families are equally compensated.
For offshore we follow the compensation standards of relevant collective bargaining agreements through our commitment to the Maritime Labour Convention and our membership in the Norwegian Shipowners Association.
Non-discrimination – We see diversity as a strength, and we currently represent 70 nationalities in our company.
We embrace equal opportunities and have performed an audit at our main locations to review the universal accessibility for people with functional variabilities and different abilities to identify and action improvement that increase inclusivity for current and future employees.
We have a strong commitment to contributing to the professional integration of young people and to strengthen their employability. At our production facilities in Penang, Malaysia, we offer multiple trainee positions for graduates to strengthen their competence to make them more attractive to future employers. Some were employed by us after the completion of their trainee period.
We have put in place a Waves Trainee programme for all graduates we employ onshore and offshore, and we offer internships across our organisation providing work experience to students.
We recognise that occupational health and safety is an essential aspect of our operations and is crucial in creating a safe and healthy working environment. Our targets are zero harm to our people, zero loss and zero rework. The actions, status and the progress of our health and safety work is addressed in our annual Sustainability Report.
Goal 12. Responsible consumption and production
Our operations generate emissions through our offshore and land operations and the biggest contributor, by far, is our vessel operations.
Our target is to reduce our scope 1 emission by 35% (basis 2019) and longer term our targets are aligned with the IMO`s revised decarbonization strategy (2023) to reach a net zero GHG emission for the maritime industry by or around 2050.
Specific actions, targets and progress are addressed in our annual Sustainability Report, and we constantly review our data, internally and by external resources to ensure transparency and accuracy of our reporting.
We stretch ourselves in controlling our energy consumption, our emissions, our waste production and handling, our use of natural resources and our impact on biodiversity.
We strictly follow the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) regulations and provide extensive training to our offshore employees to prevent accidental pollution through fire, leakage or any incident which can cause hazardous exposure to the environment from our operations.
Our Code of Conduct, Quality, Heath, Safety & Environmental Policy, ESG Policy supported by appropriate procedures and guidelines, and a strong safety culture among our employees, represent a firm barrier against accidental pollutions.
Implementing a circular economy to reduce our environmental impact is a key theme on our ESG strategy. We include circular economy on our R&D division and production facilities. We follow international conventions for recycling and use facilities which comply with the 2009 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of ships.
We expect our suppliers to adhere to the fundamental principles of purchasing by incorporating our Code of Conduct in our partnership. We host workshops with key suppliers to share and agree on best praxis on ensuring sustainable procurement practices.
Goal 14. Life below water
Operating vessels across the globe avoiding marine pollution is extremely important to us. We strictly follow the MARPOL and local regulations and provide extensive training to our offshore employees to prevent marine pollution.
Our Code of Conduct, Quality, Heath, Safety & Environmental Policy, ESG Policy supported by appropriate procedures and guidelines, and a strong safety culture among our employees, represent a firm barrier against marine pollutions.
Our offshore employees contribute to reduce pollution by recovering and responsibly disposing of encountered marine debris from the ocean. By mid-2024, we have picked up 165 tons of marine debris and released 25 marine animals entangled in the debris. We report our progress in our annual sustainability report.
Goal 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
Forced labour and child labour is addressed among the most important human and labour rights which matters to our business.
Our Code of Conduct clearly states that we shall respect the Human Rights and that we adopt the same for our suppliers. We are not employing children below the age of 15 and we are ensuring that persons under the age of 18 do not perform hazardous work
We are committed to providing a safe and respectful work environment and operate a zero-tolerance policy for any form of harassment as stated in our Code of Conduct and Workplace Harassment & Bullying Policy. We provide an online whistleblowing tool, and we have the designated person ashore channel in place to ensure that any employee or contractor can voice their concerns and grievances and involve them in finding a solution.
Our stakeholder engagement is meticulously crafted to foster open dialogue and collaboration, bringing diverse perspectives into our business. The engagement is not static but evolves continually to reflect the changing dynamics of our business environment and stakeholder expectations.
Our Code of Conduct addresses our policy to mitigate any form of corruption and bribery.
We provide extensive and mandatory training for all employees to ensure all are competent to take proper responsibility for this area. And we collaborate with and audit our suppliers and commercial agents to ensure this responsibility is followed up in our value chain.
Our Sustainability Report describes the stakeholder groups and how we engage with them.
Goal 17. Partnership for the goals
To help strengthen domestic resource mobilization, we have developed a responsible tax approach based on clear principles of action and rigorous governance. We are committed not to create affiliates in countries generally acknowledged as tax havens.
We foster regional and international cooperation and partnerships by sharing knowledge, expertise, and financial resources to support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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