Leading the way for Sustainable Change

“Sustainability is the future because without it, there is no future!”

OSM formalized its focus on sustainability by joining the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Initiative in February of 2017 and submitted its very first sustainability report earlier this year.

The idea of joining the UNGC initiative originally came from OSM Crew Management, but from 2018 it will cover all businesses and operations for the entire group. Andrea Castagna M. Lima, OSM’s Project Manager for the UNGC Initiative explains why the focus on sustainability matters for companies like ours:

“By implementing a sustainable business approach, we want to ensure a long life for OSM that can benefit all stakeholders, including you and me. Making sustainable considerations will be key for our profitability in the long run and will help ensure that we can continue to provide fair jobs to our people while reducing any negative impacts of our activities.”

Andrea Castagna M. Lima, OSM’s Project Manager for the UNGC pictured outside the OSM office in Cyprus

Profit, People & Planet

One of the bases of sustainability is the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework. The TBL is commonly called the three Ps: Profit, People and Planet. It incorporates three dimensions of a company performance: financial, social and environmental – also known as the 3 pillars of sustainability.

Andrea explains that the creation of shared value is one of the targets and outcomes of a sustainable business model, with benefits for OSM, its stakeholders and our business ecosystem.

“From a business perspective sustainability means having a long-term view, enhancing the company resiliency. Instead of focusing on the maximum profit today, exhausting all resources, the company will focus on how to continue doing business in a long term. This represents a big change on the business model, moving from creating value for shareholders to creating value for all the company’s stakeholders.”

Group wide implementation

The UNGC framework and its sustainable development goals are deeply linked to OSM’s business values. In 2018, OSM has focused particularly on three of the goals, namely Health&Well-being, Quality Education and Decent Work&Economic Growth.

Several initiatives are introduced to support the sustainable development goals – one example is the global Mental Health Awareness Campaign, which was launched in connection with Day of the Seafarer on June 25th. The upcoming Materiality Assessment Survey is another initiative, designed to promote stakeholder engagement with the objective of defining the most important sustainability topics and initiatives for OSM Maritime Group.

“During the next years we will invest to further incorporate all 17 sustainable development goals into our operations. This will be done with transparency and consistency, where focus and strategy are needed.

“The awareness of UNGC and the need to abide by the sustainable development goals is growing,” Andrea concludes, “and I’m proud to be a part of a company that leads the way for the ship management segment in this regard. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something to help build a more sustainable future for our industry, our people and our planet.”