SDGs Initiatives
We contribute to achieving the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) through our business activities in a broad range of markets associated with ocean, land, and air transport.
About SDGs
The SDGs were adopted at the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 and carry forward the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) implemented from 2001 to 2015. The SDGs are a blueprint to address economic, social, and environmental issues such as poverty, inequality, education, and climate change in all countries and regions, including those that are developed and developing. Seventeen goals have been formulated with the target of achieving them by 2030 through the cooperation of companies, governments, and local communities.
We are aiming to enhance our handling of materiality and striving to develop a sustainable society and environment so that we can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.
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SDGs especially relevant to our business activities
The SDGs require innovations from the private sector and can lead to new business opportunities. In order to contribute to achieving the SDGs through our business activities, we set targets for six of the 17 goals that were particularly relevant to our business in fiscal 2017. To identify these goals, we conducted interviews with not only management but also young employees who have been with the company for 10 years or less. In fisical 2023, we matched material issues of Safety, Environment, and Human Resources, as well as the key themes that support them with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to re-identify the 10 most relevant SDGs. We will continue contributing to the achievement of these SDGs through our business activities.
SDGs Activities ①
NYK-TDG Maritime Academy
NTMA in the Philippines educates future seafarers in safe operation
We established the NYK-TDG Maritime Academy (NTMA) in the Philippines in 2007 to provide education and training in one of the leading countries for seafarers. NTMA serves as a primary source for the Group for future seafarers by producing outstanding students, instilling a deep sense of safety consciousness, and cultivating loyalty to the Group.
NTMA graduates obtain seafarer licenses after undergoing training aboard NYK cadet training ships, commercial vessels specially equipped with educational facilities and classrooms along with cabins for 20 cadets and private quarters for instructors. The hands-on experience prepares students for careers as navigation officers and engineers. The NYK-TDG Maritime Academy has graduated more than 1,360 seafarers (as of November 2022), and graduates attained the positions of "captain" and "chief engineer" in April 2021 and April 2022, respectively.
SDGs Activities ②
Onboard Cashless Systems Project
Adopting a cashless onboard payment system helps ship seafarers manage money and support their families.
Dealing with money matters while on board a vessel presents various challenges. Seafarers have traditionally received their salaries in cash and use the cash to buy daily goods. But cash requires careful management by all seafarers and brings with it the risks of being lost or stolen. In addition, seafarers wiring funds to family when in port must pay remittance charges.
We are using financial technology (fintech) to create a convenient cashless system on board our vessels using a proprietary network for e-money settlements and money transfers. After exhaustive demonstration tests, this summer we established MarCoPay Inc. (Maritime Community Pay) in the Philippines to provide financial services supporting cashless systems on our vessels. Seafarers from the Philippines and other locations often face difficulty when they need to take out loans because, regardless of their contracted salary, financial institutions are wary about lending to seafarers with contracted working periods that may be less than a year, which is common in the shipping industry. Our project has attracted the attention of Philippine governmental agencies and various financial firms because using the data we have accumulated about the financial services seafarers use while aboard ship promises to reconnect financial institutions with seafarers and enable them to offer services for their substantial assets. With some 1.5 million professional seafarers worldwide, our onboard cashless system could vastly improve the financial conditions for seafarers and contribute significantly to improving the lives of seafarers and their families.
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- NYK Establishes "MarCoPay," an Electronic Money Platform Business to Expand Globally
- MarCoPay Inc. Realizes World's First Onboard Use of Digital Currency
- NYK REPORT 2021 P.50-55 Special Feature2 NYK Group Innovative Story[PDF:1.64MB]
- NYK Begins Payment of Seafarers' Salaries in Digital Currency
- Japan Airlines and the NYK Group's MarCoPay Inc. launch new service on MarCoPay, an electronic platform for seafarers, on December 23 to promote tourism in Japan
- Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation Forms Business Alliance with NYK Group's MarCoPay
Examples of publication of Group initiatives outside
Keizai Koho Center
- A video explaining onboard cashless system (MarCoPay) has been posted on "Society 5.0".
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NYK's Initiatives Introduced at UN's #Global Goals Week
- Promoting Sustainable Development Goals -
In a speech at the U.N., NYK was the only Japanese company mentioned to be promoting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. NYK does this by encouraging creative solutions through innovation and business model changes to positively address issues that challenge our society.
The speech was made by Remi Eriksen, group president and CEO of DNV GL, a classification society based in Norway, as part of #Global Goals Week at the U.N. headquarters in New York during the 71st session of the U.N. General Assembly that was held from September 13, 2016.
The NYK initiatives mentioned included the following:
- 1Contribution to "Decent Work and Economic Growth" by building a maritime academy in the Philippines and allowing for the transfer of a professional skill to the people of a developing country.
- 2A reduction of emissions and an improvement in operation safety through the use of the eco-friendly navigation support systems incorporated in the concept ship NYK Super Eco-Ship 2030 in addition to cooperation between crew members and onshore personnel for the use of Big Data and the IoT.
- 3In accordance with the Japanese government's aim to increase exports of agricultural, forest, and fishery products to ¥1 trillion by 2020, which is twice the level of 2012, the NYK Group's proactive technology development of controlled atmosphere (CA) containers will make the transport of agriculture from Japan to developing countries feasible.
<Speech for the achievement of SDGs>
DNV GL has published a report titled "Future of Spaceship Earth," which examines the likelihood of achieving the 17 SDGs by 2030 and private sector solutions for achieving these goals. For each SDG, the report highlights a company pioneering progress toward the goal.
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<NYK's Initiatives>
NYK's initiatives can be found in the "NYK SPARK BOOK," a handbook for creative solutions that accompanied the 2016 NYK Report.
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A message from the CEO of DNV GL, an international shipping classification society
-The NYK Group's technical development is providing solutions and creating value in many ways.-
CEO and President
DNV GL
DNV GL believes digitalization in shipping will offer great benefits in safer, more efficient and greener operations as well as enhanced value creation. DNV GL sees NYK in the forefront of these developments. The collaboration between NYK and DNV GL on sensor data and data ingestion has proven effective and valuable and we believe it will benefit the whole maritime industry in its further development.
There is a strong business case for NYK's broad engagement with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular, driving down transport costs and raising logistics efficiencies benefits NYK while improving market access for developing countries, and lowering emissions. DNV GL was honored to feature NYK's many SDG-aligned initiatives in the report The Future of Spaceship Earth (In November 2017).
(as of July. 2017)
Activities to Increase Awareness of the SDGs
All employees give consideration to the SDGs, and we make efforts to increase their awareness by promoting activities in various departments to share ideas and spread the SDGs throughout the company.
Main Initiatives
ESG Training
Incorporating the SDGs, this training is conducted for new employees with the aim of deepening understanding of the Group's ESG management initiatives on the themes of ESG, compliance and personal information protection, the environment, human rights, and antitrust and bribery laws. In fiscal 2022, 115 employees, including those from Group companies, participated in this training.
ESG Management e-Learning
We conduct ESG e-Learning every year for Group employees to deepen their understanding of the Group's ESG management initiatives and impart knowledge of ESG-related social trends and stakeholder perspectives. The program is structured to enable learning in line with the three material issues of safety, the environment, and human resources as the basis of ESG management and introduces the "NYK Group ESG Story" and other information. In fiscal 2022, 7,647 employees, including those from Group companies, participated in the program.
In-house coffee shop at company headquarters
As an approach to SDG Goal 14, we are promoting initiatives to reduce the use of plastic, and we have been eliminating plastic containers, straws, and bags since fiscal 2019. In addition, employees receive a discount when purchasing drinks using their own cups.
As another initiative, we started offering menus using sustainable seafood, i.e., seafood that is captured and produced in a way that does not lead to overfishing or environmental damage. The active choice of sustainable seafood protects important marine resources and will help people continue to eat fish in the future.
Social Contribution
The NYK Group is positioning ESG at the center of business management and proactive advancement of ESG. Under the theme of "giving back to the oceans, earth, and people" we are committed to social and environmental issues.
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