Our ESG Journey
Namport, as a responsible corporate citizen, acknowledges its pivotal role in the Namibian economy and embraces sustainability as a cornerstone of its strategic focus.
Aligned with global best practices, Namport has proactively developed an ESG and Sustainability Policy. This policy serves as a robust framework to uphold Namport's commitment to building a sustainable organization.
The ESG and Sustainability Policy aims to amplify Namport's positive social, environmental, and economic impacts while promoting sustainable environmental practices, robust corporate governance, and the mitigation of social disparities. By integrating sustainable economic development into its mandate, Namport aims to elevate sustainability from a legal requirement to a proactive business imperative.
Namport's policy ensures adherence to global sustainability frameworks and aligns with international standards such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Conventions, King IV principles, and the GRI reporting framework.
Grounded in triple bottom line principles, Namport's sustainability approach goes beyond financial metrics to encompass the interests of all stakeholders. This holistic approach emphasizes the balanced consideration of people, planet, and profit. Namport's sustainability strategy rests on four pillars:
Namport has developed an integrated ESG and Sustainability action plan to support the implementation of its ESG and Sustainability Policy. This action plan outlines specific initiatives within each sustainability pillar that Namport is currently undertaking or planning to undertake.
To ensure effective implementation of the policy, the Board has established a strategy for corporate sustainability, as well as a governance structure to execute the strategy. The Board Social, Ethics and Sustainability Committee (SESCO) has been assigned the responsibility of overseeing the policy's implementation, strategy management and reporting, environmental management, and occupational health and safety.
Furthermore, Namport aims to become a "green port" by 2026. This objective follows the signing of a tripartite MoU in February 2020 with Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque (GPMD) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The MoU involves a review and assessment of the environmental performance of the Port of Walvis Bay, identifying improvement opportunities, and developing a green port strategy and implementation action plan.
Namport also actively participates in the "Blue Ports Initiative" under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Blue Ports Initiative encourages and supports ports in implementing a blue transformation approach in their strategic and operational processes. It enables commercial and fishing ports to enhance their sustainability practices and promote sustainable development in their respective regions. Namport's participation in the Blue Ports Initiative demonstrates its commitment to contributing to the advancement of sustainable practices within the port industry.
The initiative focuses on various key areas, including poverty alleviation and food security through reinforcing food quality, conservation of natural resources through effective marine policies, strengthening value chains, ensuring compliance with labour rights and promoting gender equality within the maritime sectors.
Responsibility for ESG
The ESG responsibilities of Namport are summarised in the following table, which also guides the content that should be included in the ESG report.
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