The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, are a call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all people and the world by 2030. PIANC International, as a founding Partner of the World Ports Sustainability Program is committed to achieving the SDGs. In 2021 PIANC A&NZ confirmed that as an organisation we were committed to aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Through a materiality assessment process in 2021 and 2022 led by Board Member Jackie Spiteri where we engaged directly with our members, PIANC A&NZ identified eight of the UN SDG’s as being directly relevant to PIANC A&NZ and four of those have been further prioritised where our organisation can make the greatest impact.
These are SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG9 – Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 13 – Climate Change, and SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals. The other four identified Goals are SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, SDG 14 – Life Below Water and SDG 15 – Life on Land.
PIANC ANZ Sustainability Strategy
With these prioritised SDGs in mind, our PIANC ANZ Sustainability Strategy focuses on four key themes: Resilience (SDGs 9 & 13), Education (SDG4), Inclusion & Diversity (SDGs 5 & 10), Governance & Communications (SDGs 9,13 & 17).
Resilience:
For resilience we have committed to building capacity within our network through the development of technical events and papers focused on key sustainability issues. We have also committed to managing our own operations to minimise our environmental footprint.
In line with PIANC A&NZ’s commitments to increase both capacity and resilience within the sector, we set a target in 2022 to provide at least one event that was focused on sustainability. During 2022 we provided three dedicated sustainability events:
- PIANC WA seminar – Net Zero Emissions Transition – The New Big Picture. 20th July
- PIANC SA/WA hybrid webinar: Climate Change and Related Issues Impacting Navigation and Ports; 28th July
- PIANC International webinar: Blue Carbon Markets – Opportunities for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure – Presentation by Will Glamore. 1st December 2022
PIANC A&NZ also hosted the PIANC APAC 2022 Conference, held in Melbourne where many of the presentations covered key sustainability issues including climate change resilience, beneficial reuse of dredged material, digitisation, sustainable port operations to name a few. For this event PIANC A&NZ partnered with Greenfleet, an Australian not-for-profit environmental organisation, to offset the carbon emissions arising from attendance at the event, through native reforestation, making APAC2022 our first quantifiable carbon neutral event! The total amount of CO2 offset at APAC2022 as a result of the initiative was 39.82 tonnes.
Education:
In line with the theme of Education, PIANC A&NZ continued to provide the PIANC A&NZ Mentoring Program. The Program aims to provide members with an opportunity of giving back to their industry through sharing professional experiences and life lessons, as well as for other members to gain guidance and advice in progressing their professional career. During 2022 we had 32 mentors and mentees (16 pairs) participate in the program, an increase from 24 in 2021, and 18 in its first year (2020).
We are committed to engaging with our universities to support our future generations, equipping them with the knowledge and the networks to be successful. During 2022 our free student membership increased significantly with students now representing 16.2% of our membership.
Inclusion & Diversity:
Diversity in our network promotes diversity of thought. The PIANC A&NZ Board has 12.5% representation of women and a diverse range of age representation. 28% of our Regional Chapters Chairs are female.
We featured inspiring women speakers in all our YP leadership breakfasts in 2022, as well as celebrating the inaugural International Day for Women in Maritime with PIANC, WISTA and the Department of Transport – Maritime in Fremantle on 18 May, where a panel of speakers (Kathryn Davies, Nicole Lockwood, and Carol Shannon) shared their stories, experiences, and words of motivation from their careers as women in maritime. The establishment of this annual event highlights the participation of women in maritime as a key priority for the global maritime sector.
Reconciliation
For cultural diversity and inclusion, PIANC A&NZ have committed to preparing a cultural plan that will reflect our members. The plan will include reconciliation action in line with the Reflect Reconciliation Australia Action Plan framework. Based around the core pillars of relationships, respect and opportunities, RAPs provide tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, increasing economic equity and supporting First Nations self-determination.
Measuring diversity
At PIANC A&NZ we are committed to understanding our members through measuring key diversity metrics. In 2022 we updated our membership platform to start capturing data on gender and cultural background so that we can better measure our performance.
During 2022 we welcomed 42 new members including corporates, individuals and students. For our individuals and students combined we saw 33.3% representation of women and for students alone the gender split was 50/50.
Governance & Communications:
We have also commenced the development of a PIANC A&NZ Diversity Policy and look forward to sharing this with our members in 2023.
For our communications in 2023 we will continue to provide and promote events that consider sustainability, update our website to include a dedicated section for sustainability and include information within our newsletters in current sustainability trends that are relevant to the sector.