Across all sectors and companies, the topics of environment, climate, and sustainability have rapidly made their way into board meetings’ agendas. Companies listed on the stock exchange have especially felt green topics taking up more and more of the time spent on regular investor calls, says Marko Raid, CFO of the Port of Tallinn.
Management of listed companies has always been influenced by investors’ expectations on company’s operations and the choice of strategic directions. This has usually meant questions and views on the company’s financial performance, investments and development plans. Also, straightforward inquiries about the board’s own motivation to implement necessary and planned changes.
Over the last few years, responsible business has emerged as one of the new dominant topics, particularly the protection of the climate and the environment. This trend is also confirmed by the investor relations experience of the Port of Tallinn.
If, 30 years from now, the whole of the European Union must be climate-neutral, then there is no escape from it in any area of the economy and immediate steps must be taken to reach this ambitious goal. It is due to this why in addition to the continued commitment on innovation and fulfilment of dividend policy, the Port of Tallinn has also supplemented its vision to promote high business culture and ensure sustainable development.
For the Port of Tallinn, the most crucial goal which rises from this vision is to become climate neutral in line with the EU’s ambitions, i.e. by 2050. Reducing pollution from ship traffic and port visits is the biggest challenge for the Port of Tallinn, both for its own and for visitors’ ships. It seems that this cannot be solved without gradually switching to alternative fuels. In addition to shipping, the Port of Tallinn’s business also consists of passengers, goods, and real estate. It is important in every field of activity to find solutions on how to permanently reduce air pollution and waste or direct it to the circular economy.
The Port of Tallinn Group has already taken several steps to reduce its ecological footprint – on-shore power supply for passenger ships at the Old City Harbour, use of renewable energy and construction of environmentally friendly buildings, reduction of port fees for environmentally friendly ships, and implementing economically efficient hybrid solutions in passenger ferry traffic between the mainland and the islands and preparing for conversion into fully renewable energy solutions.
Being an essential part of the economy, of the public space, and a listed company with 16,000 shareholders, it is vital that in addition to creating value for our investors also an evolution towards sustainability takes place – so that our operations would be successful in economic, environmental and social terms. We have set for ourselves specific action plans and milestones, towards which we are moving, and on which we also regularly report on.
Thanks to this we also feel confident in investor relations to continue communicating our promises clearly and transparently. Being named the company with the best investor relations in the Baltics in 2021 by financial analysists, investors and journalists at the Nasdaq Baltic Awards only endorses our values to be open and reliable, both in investor relations and in day-to-day activities.
In conclusion, the topics of responsibility and sustainability have for some time already been more than nice-to-have phrases or brief statements on websites. In fact, they are clearly recognized values based on which investors evaluate the success of a company’s business, innovativeness and the ability to create long-term value.