At PSA, we believe that taking climate action is our responsibility. As a global leader in the port operations and logistics industry, we are in a unique position to effect change in our sphere of influence and spur collective action towards sustainability.
In 2021, we launched our inaugural Sustainability Report, titled Green Horizons: Enabling a Better World Through Sustainable Port and Supply Chain Solutions. The report encapsulates our commitment to have sustainability underpin and drive our business, as we seek new horizons of growth to build a better world. The Group’s Sustainability Strategy Framework is set out in the report, providing a roadmap in our ambition to drive sustainable value creation through three strategic priorities: Taking Climate Action; Transforming Supply Chains; and Nurturing A Future-Ready Workforce.
Our Climate Response
Our climate response encompasses the range of initiatives we have taken as a Group to combat climate change and reduce emissions across our terminals, as well as our efforts to collaborate with partners to improve the sustainability, resilience and efficiency of global supply chains.
The Group aims to reduce our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 (against a 2019 baseline year), and progressively achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Enabling Sustainable Supply Chains
Leveraging on digital solutions to enhance supply chain visibility and progress towards a greener ecosystem, PSA’s Opt-E-Arrive programme facilitates transparent ship-to-port data exchange and real-time activity synchronisation to enable Just-In-Time vessel arrivals at our terminals. Through stakeholder collaboration and digital capabilities, it supports the dynamic optimisation of vessel arrivals with marine and terminal resource planning and efficient vessel bunker consumption.
Over and beyond, we continue to co-create and deploy innovative solutions that improve efficiency and resiliency, which support decarbonisation across supply chains. To this end, we are working towards a PSA Green Corridor, where carbon-neutral maritime routes connecting through PSA terminals globally are supported by a suite of value-added green services, generating carbon abatement values across the entire ecosystem.
Besides digital solutioning, we strive to enable long-term sustainable logistics through our offerings of alternative transportation, such as our greener option of moving cargo via rail instead of trucks, as in the example of PSA’s Ashcroft Terminal in Canada. Other Cargo Solutions initiatives such as our China-Europe rail also provide greener alternatives to Beneficial Cargo Owners to move their cargos from Europe to Asia via multimodal sea-rail links.
Collaborating For Change
We have also participated in more cross-industry partnerships to influence action towards sustainability. PSA International joined more than 150 organisations as a signatory for the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonisation, developed by a multi-stakeholder task force convened by the Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero Coalition. Together, the signatories – which range from operators, freight forwarders to technology, research and development organisations – are taking concrete and critical steps to deliver commercially viable zero emission vessels with the necessary supporting infrastructure and fuel production by 2030.
In particular, the Supply Chain and Transport Industry under the World Economic Fund, that is co-chaired by PSA Group CEO Tan Chong Meng, is driving impactful systemic challenges through collective actions alongside global supply chain and transport CEOs, building resiliency in the supply chain, accelerating the development and deployment of new technology, as well as sustainable industry transition.
PSA has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with management consulting organisation RHT Group of Companies to explore opportunities and investments in Environmental, Social, and Governance digital assets solutions for our stakeholders and the further decarbonisation in ports and supply chains. We also invested in fintech group SDAX Financial to further our sustainability initiatives for ports, supply chains and climate-conscious cargo owners.
Climate-Conscious Culture
The inaugural PSA Leaders’ Sustainability Series was started in 2021. This series of talks conducted by industry leaders and high-level sustainability experts hopes to better inform PSA leaders from our Corporate Centre and Business Units (BUs) as they continue to shape business strategy with sustainability in mind.
PSA employees around the world also participated in the annual PSA Go Green event. The group-wide movement is PSA’s effort to promote environmental awareness and advocacy amongst our staff. The theme for the GoGreen 2021 was ‘Little Green Steps’ and was chosen to empower our colleagues to adopt eco-actions to reduce their carbon footprints.
Across PSA, our BUs also stepped up to the challenge by organising various green activities such as tree planting, litter picking, recycling drives, and talks to drive awareness about sustainability. Collectively, more than 2,600 trees were planted and over 4,500 kg of trash was picked up through joint clean-up activities.
Taking Climate Action Around the World
Across the world, our BUs have also made their strides towards sustainability in terminal operations.
In Southeast Asia, PSA Singapore took part in and supported Singapore’s Climate Action Week 2021, an annual initiative organised by Singapore’s Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment. Through a range of activities to reduce, reuse and recycle, and participating in conversations about climate resilience, our colleagues gained a better understanding of Singapore’s efforts in reducing the country’s carbon emissions and how industry players like PSA can support this movement to reduce the country’s carbon emissions.
PSA Singapore also welcomed a new fleet of 160 liquefied natural gas (LNG) prime movers (PMs) at Singapore’s Pasir Panjang Terminal. A cleaner fuel compared to diesel, LNG significantly reduces the emissions of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulate matter. Compared to their diesel equivalents, these LNG PMs are able to reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 20%.
Our business units in the Europe, Mediterranean and the Americas region continued to raise awareness and educate employees about sustainability.
PSA Antwerp conducted testing of a hydrogen-powered terminal tractor and mobile hydrogen filling station at its Europa Terminal, a start for other pilot programmes that similarly aim to reduce terminal carbon emissions.
As part of PSA’s global Go Green Week 2021, Ashcroft Terminal organised a series of activities and initiatives to increase understanding of climate change. For Tree Day, the terminal engaged a local nursery to gift PSA employees with trees to plant at home. A group of PSA volunteers also cleaned a park in the local community on Clean Up Day.
At Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce in Colombia, 90% of the terminal’s water consumption was derived through rainwater harvesting and the terminal also recycled a portion of their waste material.
Mersin International Port in Turkey implemented a new mineral oil dispensing system to reduce the number of waste barrels and minimise the risk of spillage.
Over in Northeast Asia, we continued to invest in smart energy technology to reduce emissions and wastage. In China, Tianjin Port Pacific International Container Terminal (TPCT) created a comprehensive smart energy consumption control platform. Through precise digital remote electricity meters, explosion-proof mobile terminals and AI recognition technology, TPCT is now able to monitor real-time status and energy consumption data in the terminal. PSA Fujian Supply Chain Co. also partnered with Fujian PSA Portnet to implement an Automobile Inventory Management app, to reduce the use of paper used for administrative procedures.
Guangzhou Container Terminal also converted 20 diesel prime movers into their electric counterparts in a bid to remove carbon emissions.
Our container terminals over in the Middle East South Asia region continued to champion sustainability causes through the 3Rs of waste management strategies – reduce, reuse and recycle. PSA Mumbai kickstarted the conversion of its diesel VSG RTGs to e-RTGs, with a vision of full conversion to e-RTGs by 2024.
As we move towards sustainable port development, PSA put in place new requirements across our major terminal construction projects – shifting away from the use of carbon intensive traditional portland cement – to encouraging the use of more sustainable alternative binders instead.
Our global ports and projects remain steadfast in our commitment to sustainability despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Working alongside partners, we will continue to orchestrate a more sustainable and resilient future for the communities we operate in and our world.
