Port of Newcastle’s sustainability efforts have received top marks in the 2022 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), with the Port receiving its highest score to date of 95 out of a possible 100 points.
GRESB is a world-leading leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) benchmarking tool, which provides insight into an organisation’s ESG performance over time and compared to its industry peers.
The 2022 assessment saw Port of Newcastle achieve its second-straight 5-star GRESB rating, which is reserved for the top 20 per cent of surveyed companies and formally recognises them as industry leaders in sustainability.
The Port also ranked first out of 26 participating global ports for its Management Score and fourth for its overall GRESB score.
Port of Newcastle CEO Craig Carmody says the result is a reflection of the Port’s sustainability journey over the past four years.
“To go from an overall GRESB score of 40 in our first assessment in 2019 to 95 in 2022 is a wonderful achievement and recognition of the dedication, collaboration and commitment of the many teams across the Port who have been working to make ESG a core part of our business and our culture,” Mr Carmody said.
“In the last 12 months we have extended the scope of our 100% renewable power purchase agreement, completed a port-wide energy efficient lighting upgrade, renewed our EcoPorts certification, entered into two sustainability linked loans and transitioned the entire port fleet to electric vehicles.
“As the world’s largest coal port, we have been actively working to diversify for the future and are well on the path to achieving our goal of reducing coal trade to half of total revenue by 2030.
“Our deepwater global gateway now handles 25 different types of cargoes and last year we saw records across a number of export commodities including wheat (+900%), aluminium (+87.5%), meals and grains (+2836%).
“Along with securing federal government funding towards hydrogen readiness, the arrival of the Port’s two new mobile harbour cranes to boost container handling capabilities has been an important step forward in our vision to create a sustainable and resilient port for the future that continues to support local jobs and a prosperous Hunter economy.
“We understand the important of ESG to our customers, shareholders and our staff and are committed to delivering strong ESG outcomes, embracing new opportunities and new ways to grow.”
Port of Newcastle has committed to undertaking GRESB benchmarking annually. The Port’s target-driven ESG Strategy sets out its commitment to Net Zero by 2040.
