NYK Obtains Third-party Certification Confirming Accurate Disclosure of Environmental Data
November 29, 2011
Far left: Climate change specialist Dave Mateo of LRQA
Fourth from left: General manager Tommo Kitayama of NYK Environment Group
Far right: International client group manager Akira Noura of LRQA
NYK has received certification from a third-party certifier, Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Limited, for the presentation and disclosure of accurate numerical values, based on proper methods in relation to environmental data, including greenhouse gases (CO2) emitted from its vessels. NYK is the first Japanese shipping company to obtain such certification.
In 2003, NYK began participation in the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG)1 organized by the San Francisco-based NPO Business for Social Responsibility (BSR).2 Together with the world’s leading manufacturers, retailers, and other relevant parties, NYK contributes to environmental activities pertaining to international maritime transport. Since 2006, the company has collected environmental data on all its vessels in service so as to proactively disclose accurate environmental data through the CCWG. Prior to the certification, the CCWG visited NYK’s vessels to confirm that there were no differences between the data gathered and managed by the vessels, and the data sent from them to the CCWG.
NYK proactively promotes the visualization of environmental impact load in ways such as through the NYK Group CO2 e-calculator3 that was introduced in October as part of the group’s activities to promote understanding of carbon footprints4 caused by transport activities. The calculation of CO2 coefficients used in the system is based on data that has been provided by the CCGW members including NYK.
NYK will continue to proactively address the challenges in society as a good corporate citizen and contribute to the achievement of a sustainable global society through environmental conservation and other activities.
1 Clean Cargo Working Group
Participated in by the world’s leading container cargo owners and shipping companies, the CCWG formulates the Environmental Performance Survey, which is recognized as a uniform standard for the evaluation of environmental performance of maritime transport, as well as environmental performance metrics, which are used to calculate and evaluate the amount of CO2 and other gas emissions from each vessel, and thus evaluate the approaches of containerships for environmental conservation.
2 Business for Social Responsibility
BSR is an international corporate membership organization founded in the United States in 1992, which is active in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). BSR provides various CSR-related information services and supports diverse activities in ethics, environmental issues, human rights, and communities.
3 NYK Group CO2 e-calculator
An NYK Group CO2 e-calculator was developed and made available on group websites from October 17. The CO2 e-calculator, a first for a Japanese shipping company, calculates the approximate amount of CO2 emitted during cargo transport by a containership or airfreighter.
http://www.nykgroup-e-calculator.com/
4 Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint generally represents the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions released throughout a product’s life cycle from manufacture/creation to sale and then to use/disposal. The carbon footprint originates from the ecological footprint concept proposed in the 1990s, and is defined as a “footprint on the earth's environment caused by human activities through greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions.”
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