Schramm, Hans-Joachim, Sofev, Petar, Sornn-Friese, Henrik. 2021. From ‘do less harm’ to ‘do good’? The state of sustainability reporting by liner shipping operators. International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) 2021 Conference - 'Accelerating Transitions', Rotterdam, Niederlande, 25.11-27.11.

RIS

@CONFERENCE{Schramm2021,
title = {From ‘do less harm’ to ‘do good’? The state of sustainability reporting by liner shipping operators},
author = {Hans-Joachim Schramm and Petar Sofev and Henrik Sornn-Friese},
year = {2021},
address = {Rotterdam},
url = {https://iame2021.org/},
language = {EN},
misc = {International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) 2021 Conference - 'Accelerating Transitions',},
abstract = {Until recently, most liner shipping operators were not too transparent about their performance in line with the triple bottom line (TBL), i.e., economic, environmental-social dimensions. However, constant pressure by stakeholders and joint work in the context of, e.g., the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) seem to change their habits. By 2018, most top liner shipping operators delivered at least some sort of sustainability reporting to the public. Employing qualitative data analysis software (NVivo) to conduct a thematic content analysis of relevant corporate communication, this paper examines patterns and recurrent themes in their communication along the TBL supplemented by a stakeholder perspective in line with existing sustainability reporting frameworks, such as, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) guidelines. Desk research obtained 115 annual sustainability reports from 26 international liner shipping operators, covering the period 2015-2020 subject to content analysis. The assessment of sustainability reporting of liner shipping operators gives insights in reporting practices and core themes addressed. The analysis uncovers alignment and shared understanding of sustainability issues in liner shipping. There is some shared understanding that may stem from present strategic alliance behavior and/or participation in the CCWG.},
}