Not everyone is on the same page – neither the ‘business as usual’; ‘time for change’ nor the ‘and –not or’ page. Are the divisions across industry a reflection of the global community or is the global community a reflection of industry? Which is the cause, which is the effect; what is a need versus what is a want – and does it matter? The truth is, our planet is in trouble.
Our generation, the working class generation that saw the evolution from the black and white screen to colour; film to digital; post – mail to email; the dot matrix printer to paperless; fiction to reality, universally has a common thread we can tug on – change. The precursor would argue effectively, which came first, the chicken or the egg? I’m of the opinion now, that that question in itself is a philosopher’s luxury and I have deduced that it really doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that change has come and not a minute too soon. It is humanity though, that drives us to determine how we exercise change in its implicit nature. Whatever the driver has been for your business and the industry, ES&G and its constitution is now resident in our policies and operations.
In the not-so-distant past, Stork decided to tether our Company’s ideology directly to our E,S&G principles and revised our mission and purpose to ‘Maintaining A Better World’. What gives me pride in this redefined position is its truth – it doesn’t matter which came first. For Stork, if it doesn’t align with our Purpose, Ambition and Values , we aren’t doing it at all. This is why our Ethics & Compliance policies establish at the baseline, synonymus expectations of our employees and our strategic partners.
What we stand for by now is well known. Our views on Investing in ES&G and Private - Public Partnerships are communicated widely. How we aim to achieve these objectives is etched into our suite of services and how we deliver them. At its foundation, our Value Proposition demonstrates introspection and action to decarbonize our operations whilst in pursuit of executing our client’s needs responsibly. Across industry, carbon reduction through capture and sequestration grows in demand and our Capabilities continue to mature in this space, geared toward meeting this essential demand.
Effectively, as a Brownfield Modification, Installation and Maintenance Company, we keep assets running at peak performance by supporting all phases of the asset life cycle. Backed by our portfolio of professional solutions, whether it be Clean Industrial Asset Management, command of the Hydrogen discipline and Fugitive Emissions technologies, we continuously strive to improve client operational performance.
When we shared our Sustainability Charter with just about everyone, we did so with the intent of casting aside the rhetoric of division across industry and asked those receiving it to commit to one simple task – do it better. Let us learn from how you improve on our charter and collectively let’s partner in redefining what excellence looks like in the 21st century.
Unfortunately, not many have answered to this call to action. We continue to challenge our partners and other stakeholders in this plight, and invite all to rise to the occasion. This is not a divide and conquer scenario. While the Operator class has engaged the service providers asking for inputs supporting Net Zero and similar targets and objectives, the target categories are so vast and wide that
the task can appear to be a daunting one. The undertaking is massive and while we remain divided by the mantle of competitiveness among the service providers and the diverse target areas having an equally diverse set of demands, the question could be asked – how far will we truly get if not working together?
As a matter of National Policy, ‘Trinidad and Tobago has committed in its Nationally Determined Contribution (which is up to the year 2030) to a reduction in overall cumulative emissions from the three main emitting sectors (power generation, industry and transportation) by 15% by 2030 which, in absolute terms is an equivalent of one hundred and three million tonnes (103,000,000) of carbon dioxide equivalents or CO2-e.’
The idea.
This National Policy is no small feat. However, one hat doesn’t fit all. Not all contribute to the emission rates equally. This is further defined as large quantity generators (LQGs), small quantity generators (SQGs), and conditionally exempt small quantity generators (CESQGs). I envision a true Public – Private Partnership, where S.M.A.R.T Goals are scaled across the three (3) categories of emitters and incentivised through regulatory catalytic polices aimed at Industry, operationalized through license agreements and compounded in the lending and underwriting stakeholder markets – each, pulling their weight.
Change is here. Change is now. How we do this is literally up to us. But if we do not work together, we are working against each other. Tugging on this proverbial thread is the necessary effort to decomplexify this monumental task. If we aren’t all pulling in the same direction, the triumph in this tug of war simply won’t be mankind’s. “Together we aspire, together we achieve.”