Michael Webber has had the “G” part of ESG covered since 2016, and now he’s making progress on the rest.

The equity analyst sometimes known as “shipping’s conscience” remains best known for establishing the industry’s first corporate governance “scorecard” in 2016, acting not only on his own convictions but at the behest of investors who urged him to step up.

Webber sorted the best and worst of public owners in areas such as related-party fees and composition of corporate boards.

But governance is only one leg of the environmental, social and governance movement that has spread across all industries, and Webber increasingly finds himself enmeshed in the others. This is especially true of the environmental plank.

Since opting to leave his decade-long stint at Wells Fargo bank last year, the 38-year-old has newfound flexibility as head of New York boutique firm Webber Research & Advisory.

He has not only added a carbon-emissions component to the scorecard that ranks more than 50 shipowners annually, but has launched an entirely new area of research into the renewable-energy sector.

With that comes added perspective as shipowners struggle to curb emissions under International Maritime Organization mandates while discovering what new propulsion systems might take them into the future.

“It creates a more well-rounded perspective,” Webber tells TW+. “We spend a ton of time around hydrogen, we work with ethanol, we have our bases covered in wind, solar and biodiesel.

“[Automation] might stretch out beyond a 10-year horizon, but it’s coming, and when it does, it will obviously have an impact on crewing”

“[Automation] might stretch out beyond a 10-year horizon, but it’s coming, and when it does, it will obviously have an impact on crewing”

Michael Webber

“But there’s a lot to do. It’s kind of like the Wild West out there right now. Everything is still maturing and rounding into form. The momentum is very real and it’s going to be an exciting time over the next 20 years in the space. But what it looks like, we’re just not sure yet.”

Webber is not only a fan of the growing ESG movement, he is convinced it has a permanent place in the shipping landscape.

“It’s of heightened importance now, but in five or 10 years’ time it will have transitioned from a new theme to a fact of life,” he says. “It goes from momentum to buy-in from most stakeholders. It becomes part of the furniture. And we’re certainly not letting off the gas pedal on that.”

Asked what other trends he sees affecting the sector, he cites the eventual consequences of automation.

“It might stretch out beyond a 10-year horizon, but it’s coming, and when it does, it will obviously have an impact on crewing.

“There’s obviously been a long layoff in activity for shipping in the capital markets, but when you look at the impact of propulsion systems and automation — together with factors like scale and good governance — these are issues that could lead to interesting opportunities in the capital markets for people who can get the technology transition right.”

In the meantime, Webber hasn’t let up on the governance focus, and it goes beyond just his scorecard.

Management in the Teekay group found that out the hard way in May, when he questioned the value of Teekay LNG Partners’ incentive distributions rights deal with parent Teekay Corp.

Webber grilled Teekay executives in two separate earnings calls over what he considered an excessive payout, referring to the $123m deal as a “shakedown”.

In June, Webber dropped Teekay LNG five spots in his governance tables to 42nd of 52 companies, but said the demotion had more to do with its failure to report carbon emissions separately.

The analyst is for now gauging solely whether owners publicly report their carbon emissions, but has left open the door to rating the actual emission levels in future reports.

“The writing is on the wall. The smart management teams have recognised that energy transition is not a fad and they need to keep this on their dashboard,” he says.