Ship supply broker GP General Procurement Company (GenPro) is hoping to take owners and suppliers along on its decarbonisation journey.
The Cyprus-based company wants to have a totally green supply chain by 2025 and has published what it believes could be the only publicly available sustainability report in the ship supply sector.
Managing director Maria Theodosiou told TradeWinds that her company researched whether there were other sustainability reports online.
But no data was found to suggest there were any others.
“We wanted to see whether we were ahead of the curve or what other companies are doing,” she said.
“I wish there were others out there. I don’t want us to be the only one.”
The report measures GenPro’s progress against Global Reporting Initiative universal standards as part of a mission to drive sustainability throughout the procurement process.
A major target is helping lower the carbon footprints of third-party suppliers’ distribution networks on the road, at sea and in the air.
The company knows its clients want to reduce emissions.
“This is where we come in. By vetting and auditing our supply network we have a clear idea of how they’re operating,” Theodosiou said.
“At the same time, we try to educate and promote and push them towards adopting more sustainable practices.”
There is a move by the company for electric, solar and other alternative sources of power.
“I’d like us to be a facilitator of sustainability,” she said.
“We influence our supply chain. We can’t force change but we can do it with the commitment and participation of our clients.
“The shipowner has the ultimate responsibility and what we do is we create those tools, we create the optionality and create a path where we are able to say, with our clients: ‘If you are not sustainable as a supplier, if you are not up to par with our requirements, and our clients’ requirements, you will find yourself out of business’.”
And she warned those who are behind the curve: “You won’t be relevant any more.”
Audit results have been communicated to its supply chain for two years now in respect of GenPro’s revised audit protocol.
If you are not sustainable as a supplier … you will find yourself out of business
— Maria Theodosiou
“We committed in 2020 to an entirely green supply network by 2025. It sounded a bit ambitious at the time to some, but I’m very pleased to say we will achieve this,” Theodosiou told TradeWinds.
This means the company will consider, among other parameters, single-use plastics, emissions in the production line, distribution and wrapping materials.
Each supplier is measured against GenPro’s balanced scorecard and its own compliance and sustainability targets, and a plan is developed to help it improve.
Shipowners can then choose high-ranking companies. “There is an incentive here for both. To be sustainable, you have to engage with everyone in the supply chain.”
Last year, the company — which is backed by Columbia Group and Bernhard Schulte Group — brought in two additional experts on waste management.
GenPro is focusing on first-tier suppliers now, the ones that provide the item to the ship.
The intention is to go to the second tier by next year — the supplier of the supplier — and then the third, the manufacturer.
“Where does it end? We need to dive deeper into the supply chain,” Theodosiou concluded.
