Sustainability and ESG

Introduction

As a business, we recognise the importance of providing transparency over our efforts to create value in a sustainable manner. Operating sustainably remains one of our strategic pillars as we execute on our business model and strategy in a manner that minimises our impact on the planet while achieving sustainable growth and returns over time.

Our purpose is to achieve continued success in our chosen markets, delivering a safe, reliable, timely, good value and high-quality experience to our customers in a way that minimises our impact on the environment.

At ICG, stakeholder and environmental focus have been key elements within our longstanding mission statement. ICG activities positively impact society as a key transport provider of goods and essential supplies and as a significant contributor, under the Irish Ferries brand, to the tourism industries of Ireland, the UK and France. We have driven changes in our activities through alignment of our reporting with emerging frameworks as a means of maximising our positive impact on society. We are embedding best in practice procedures and policies to drive our focus and commitment going forward. This puts ICG on the path to achieve our shared commitments to the IMO CO₂ reduction targets of 40 percent carbon intensity by 2030 from a 2008 baseline and towards helping to achieve the UN SDGs for 2030.

Our approach is informed by a review of best practice sustainability reporting standards and frameworks including guidelines and recommendations by the:

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),
• the Sustainability Accounting Standards Boards (SASB) Marine Transportation
• the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In December 2022, the Science based targets initiative issued its guidance for the maritime industry. We are carefully considering the recommendations and will look to see where we can align our targets in line with the guidance issued. We continue to integrate the requirements of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) within our report.

Transport of goods remains the backbone of the local Irish and European economies. Our efforts in greening the maritime industry are a vital part of moving the wider European economy to a sustainable footing in the face of the rising challenge from climate change.

2022 – A year of extremes

The recent report from the EU’s Copernicus notes 2022 was a year of climate extremes, with record high temperatures and rising concentrations of greenhouse gases. The trends are stark. Climate.copernicus.eu

Regulators are acting, whether it is European union led, globally at the IMO level or local governments, there continues to be a deluge of additional legislation in the pipelines with progressively stricter standards for emissions and reporting requirements for our industry.

Action and New Solutions

At ICG we understand this need for action. We are actively working to achieve and surpass all standards for emissions where-ever possible while maintaining an economic return on investment.

Our ambition is to have a 50 percent reduction of all GHG from shipping operations by 2050 versus 2008 in line with our IMO obligations.

We set out below our industry’s challenges on decarbonisation of the of industry, primarily the reliance on marine diesel fuel to power our ships engines. Alternative fuel technologies are in the process of being deployed but these technologies are not sufficiently mature to currently replace diesel fuel engines as a power source at a commercially viable cost. When these technologies are optimised, we will deploy them across our network.

In the meantime, we are making the changes to achieve optimisation of operations. We are looking at alternative sources of fuels, e.g. bio fuels trials for our Fast Craft Dublin Swift, and we will commit when sufficient reliable volumes become available from suppliers at a cost effective price. We are working with our partner ports to ensure that the necessary infrastructure, e.g. deployment of shore power, is available to support the maritime industry road to decarbonisation.

Sustainable Development Goals

Aligning operations with our contribution

ICG support the Sustainable Development Goals by minimising our effect on the environment. This contributes to our customers efforts, to transport and deliver their products in a manner that is Sustainable into the future.

The UN SDG’s and their respective targets form the backbone of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable development. The SDG’s define global priorities that will put the world on a more sustainable path, free of poverty, environmental degradation and inequalities.

As highlighted within the pages of this report, the activities we believe best support the Group’s core SDGs are:

Engagement with our stakeholders

We regularly engage with our significant stakeholders, to understand their key pressing issues and material topics. We incorporate these topics into the planning and execution of our day-to-day business and output of the reporting of these issues. Our constant engagement process provides a self-feeding loop of improvement and helps us to adapt to emerging trends in real time.

A summary of our engagement and key topics covered:

Environment

The Voyage Ahead

As an organisation, we recognise our responsibility to reduce our emissions in line with stakeholder interests and relevant targets set for the industry. ICG operates in a heavily regulated industry and one that has been conscious of its environmental footprint for a long time.

We focus on achieving these objectives in a two-fold manner, operationally doing what we can be immediately achieved in the short term and technically that which requires the development and deployment of new technologies to achieve the required reductions in GHG targets.

Decarbonising our Vessel Operations

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating global shipping, and the European Union (EU) have each set decarbonisation goals for the maritime industry. Current IMO targets aim to reduce the industry’s total CO₂ emissions per transport work by 40 percent by the year 2030 and overall GHG emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. The EU has targeted an industry reduction in GHG intensity of 6 percent by 2030, accelerating in five-year stages to 75 percent by 2050, compared to 2020 levels. While regulatory developments at the IMO and EU are ongoing, we are aligning our decarbonisation strategy with the IMO goals and will adjust accordingly to achieve, at a minimum, all required targets. As the maritime industry has unique challenges arising from the current lack of proven, accessible alternative fuels, particularly for large vessels, our current decarbonisation strategy for our vessels is focused on achieving the above targets through a range of short-term operational measures and longer-term technical measures.

Operational Measures

• Operation of green voyage programme to optimise voyage factors such as; port operations, navigational routing and speed management.
• Environmental performance monitoring and advanced data analytics using fleet management software S-Insight.
• Proactive monitoring of real-time vessel performance through a live feed from the vessels’ engine power management system, facilitating vessel responsiveness during different operation modes, including Eco-mode. Installation has progressed onboard the W.B. Yeats which, if successful, shall be expanded across the fleet.
• Regular drydocking of vessels to reduce hull fouling and ensure high maintenance of machinery.
• Use of experienced crews and port operations teams to increase efficiency.
• Continuous improvement of vessel performance in line with relevant Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans (SEEMPs).
• Ongoing research and trialling of accessible alternative fuels, including sustainable biofuels reduce emissions. Our recent trials onboard the Dublin Swift have been successful, we are exploring options to source reliable volumes of the biofuels at commercially viable costs.

Technical Measures

• Long-term replacement of existing fleet with efficient ships incorporating latest technologies, in line with vessel life cycles. Our most recent newbuild, the W.B. Yeats vessel, delivered in 2018, is approximately 35 percent more efficient than its predecessor, the Oscar Wilde.
• Increased utilisation of onshore power within the EU enabled by FuelEU Maritime proposals. We have up graded the infrastructure of the Dublin Swift to connect to on shore electric power during winter layup.
• Compliance with ongoing design efficiency requirements under IMO energy efficiency design index for new (EEDI) and existing (EEXI) ships. All our ships are EEXI compliant for 2022 and 2023.
• Investment in exhaust gas cleaning systems on board certain vessels that minimise sulphur emissions to below levels mandated by existing regulation and significantly reducing particulate matter.
• Investment in upgraded, more efficient turbochargers on board Ulysses. This has resulted in a significantly improved fuel efficiency, lowering of exhaust temperatures, reducing overall wear and tear whilst also improving reliability to customers and achieving a greater volume of green voyages status.
• Use of innovative, non-toxic, anti-fouling hull paints to reduce resistance when moving through water.
• Use of energy efficient propeller blades to decrease resistance and improve fuel efficiency.

We continually research and assess the feasibility of retrofit projects to improve the emissions performance of our fleet, ensuring innovative technologies that are safe and proven effective can be introduced where appropriate. This includes;

• Ongoing investment and assessment of suitable technologies to improve existing fleet including; air lubrication systems, we have recently extended our ongoing collaboration with a technology provider to test the suitability of this technology for our fleet.
• Collaboration with suitable marine technology companies participating in clean energy projects and innovations.
• Ongoing assessment of adjustments to vessel structure to improve efficiency, such as assessing modifications to a vessel’s hull shape.

A core element of our decarbonisation strategy is to gather consistent data that aligns with regulatory requirements. This includes ongoing emissions data verification under both the EU Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) Regulation for which Group vessels have complied with since 2018, and the IMO Fuel Oil Data Collection System (DCS) reporting which came into effect in 2019.

Decarbonising our Terminal Operations

In our Terminal operations, we continue to progress on our targets to achieve our Net Zero goal for our terminal operations by 2030. We have continued our investment programme on our electric crane gantries at our DFT terminal. Our capital investments in previous years are beginning to show reductions in GHG emissions and will show further reductions as we align our operations to fully take advantage of the investment in electrification in 2023.

Decarbonisation Investment programme

An overview of key projects contributing to the decarbonisation of our terminal operations is set out below.

• Solar Panels on DFT office buildings: commissioned in late September 2022, we have yet to see the full year benefit of this investment. We expect that in Summer 2023 our daily electric generation for our DFT building will exceed the buildings requirement and the excess electricity produced will be exported back to the grid.
• Electric RTGs: starting in 2017, we have been electrifying our RTGs. Our current investment program will finalise in 2023 with the final commissioning of three further RTGs. In total we will have invested €26.5m as part of this investment, achieving electrification of 80% of our cranes with €6.8m to be spent in 2023 which has been included in our capital commitments note 27.
• Each new electric RTG reduces our diesel fuel consumption on average by approx. 80,000 litres each year. These new cranes are powered by green electricity.
• DFT Terminal Electric network: alongside our investment in electric cranes, we have been investing in the supporting infrastructure, with a €1.1m number invested over the last number of years.
• Our Terminal in BCT uses eight completely electric RTGs following investment by Belfast port over the last number of years.
• LED lighting is installed within our terminal buildings and flood and mast lighting systems around the terminals. Since mid-2020, the electricity supply for our DFT terminal and Dublin offices is certified green, while our Belfast Terminal has been powered by 100 percent green electricity for the last several years.
• Company cars are being replaced with electric and hybrid models in line with replacement cycles. Six new electric and hybrid cars were ordered in 2022 to replace petrol and diesel cars used by sales and operations staff.
• Investment in our yard Tugs and Tractors – over the last number of years we have continued to invest in upgrades to our yard Tug fleet. While diesel powered, they are some of the most efficient in class. These new engines will reduce NOx and Particulate matter by up to 93% from earlier engine types.

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Responsible Resource consumption

We are acutely aware that our environmental impact is much wider than just emissions, and we continue to focus on minimising waste and resource use, preventing pollution and protecting biodiversity. Due to the nature of our operations, the protection of marine life is of utmost importance. Every effort is made to prevent spills and releases overboard. Accidental releases can occur due to leaks, storms or human error. ICG has zero-tolerance for illegal dumping of waste at sea and uses high-quality port reception facilities and ISO certified waste management partners to responsibly discharge and treat various types of waste from our vessels and land-based activities. All vessels use oil recovery systems to recover spent oils which are then sent for recycling. We undertake periodic inspection of our partners’ waste management facilities to gain comfort over their waste treatment and reporting processes. We also use a specialised TBT free Marpol compliant non-toxic paints which avoid the release of harmful agents to the sea.

All our vessels carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) certificate on board to demonstrate the control of hazardous materials on ships in compliance with both the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (SRR) and the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. All vessels underwent a thorough survey and inspection during the year to ensure IHM certification was in place as required.

At our Dublin offices, our waste management partner employs a combination of Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) processing and Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) processing to recover and recycle metals and transfer processed waste for alternative fuel and electricity production, thereby contributing to the circular economy and avoiding landfill.

Food and garbage waste generated on vessels at sea that is bought ashore is incinerated ashore for biosecurity purposes.

We have joined the UK Chamber of Shipping pledge to continuously minimise the generation of shipborne garbage and to the collective goal of zero pollution from ships to sea from plastics. To this effect, we have removed all single use plastics from our ships.

Each crew and office department have designated waste management champions. Their responsibilities are to ensure vessels and office areas are compliant with agreed procedures, to perform checks at waste segregation areas and to improve awareness of consumption methods within their respective areas.

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Water

We aim to conserve water and improve water efficiency as much as possible.

The use of ballast water is important for the safety and stability of our vessels. Ballast water management involves the intake and discharge of ballast water at different locations due to changes to cargo and voyage conditions. We have invested and committed significantly to Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) across our fleet. The bulk of our fleet have now been fitted with BWTS with a further three to be fitted in 2023. The Dublin Swift does not use ballast water and therefore does not carry this risk.

We on-board water for potable use from certified sources and retain these supplies on-board in certified sanitary conditions. Water stocks are regularly tested in line with on-board policies to ensure it remains of a high quality. Recognising that potable water is a scarce resource we have integrated water conservation measures including devices such as flow controllers. Where permitted, we use seawater for non-potable use, which is treated prior to discharge back to sea.

In previous years, an innovative container wash water recycling system was installed at our new Dublin Inland Port facility (our most intensive water use location within the terminals business), providing up to 90 percent savings in freshwater consumption. The system uses biological and separation technology to return used and dirty wash water back to clean and suitable re-use water.

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Waste

Increases in waste and consumption volumes in 2022 reflect the expansions made to our routes and operating fleet, as well as increased passenger travel following the removal of Covid 19 travel restriction in early 2022. We continue to have a focus on minimising waste, recycling materials wherever possible. We do this by constantly working with our ship managers and waste management partners across all our office locations and ports served to constantly implement best practice.

Bamboo flooring is present on new and refurbished Eucon containers. On 31 December 2022, 1,240, or approximately 25 percent of the Group’s container fleet include bamboo flooring. Bamboo self-regenerates from its roots and is considered more sustainable than hardwood trees for its ability to regenerate quickly.

We are promoting responsible consumption through our selection of crew uniforms, which now contain 95 percent recycled polyester recovered from plastic bottles. In 2022, ICG purchased approx. 1,000 garments, equating to 42,000 plastic bottles being recycled and prevented from reaching the oceans or landfill sites. We continually incorporate sustainability considerations into our procurement process. We minimise the number of deliveries to our vessels through containerised provisioning.

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Noise

We are acutely conscious of our impact on the environment, including the noisescape of the ports that we visit as part of our transport network. To minimise our impact on our local communities, we ensure that latest alarm technologies are fitted to our operational vehicles, to ensure the safety of our staff while minimising disturbance of the wider community. As part of our ongoing activities, we periodically monitor our noise emissions to ensure they are in line with local environmental guidelines.

There have been no noise complaints registered over the last 3 years concerning our activities.

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Supply Chain

We seek to build lasting relationships with our key suppliers and contractors. Of utmost importance is that our suppliers are aligned with our own ethical principles. The ICG Supplier Code of Conduct sets out our expectations to suppliers regarding the environment, ethics, human rights and health and safety. Full details of this code can be found on our website. In 2022, we have engaged with our most significant suppliers in order to confirm that their values aligned with ICG. Operationally we are in constant communication with our principal contractors including our port operators and ship managers as we both work closely together to develop and execute on our business activities. This constant interaction allows us both to be flexible and adapt to evolving situations.

People

Our people are high achieving, and customer centric focused. At ICG we enjoy a working environment built on trust and collaboration, where we encourage our people to collaborate up, down and across the organisation and to challenge positively the norm to deliver top class results.

Our people are passionate about their work. Their strong commitment to delivering high standards is one of our strategic pillars that enables us to execute on our strategy successfully.

Our culture

We offer our people a holistic culture which incorporates safety, health, wellbeing, development reward and recognition.

Development

Through our Recruitment and Selection practices we hire for potential and ensure that our people reach their potential through challenging and meaningful work.

As a “Learning Organisation”, we actively support the growth mindset of our people through our Learning & Development Policy and also our Talent Review Process. We have fostered a culture of engagement which nurtures and supports our people to continually develop and upskill.

Central to our success is leadership and we have a bespoke Leadership Programmes for those who we identify, through succession planning, to participate in these programmes as they progress within the business.

Health & Wellbeing

The health and wellbeing of our people is paramount to us and is supported by flexible work practices and family friendly policies. Events throughout the year focus not only on the physical health of our people but also their mental health, which is equally as important.

Reward and Recognition

Our people receive a competitive salary with a variety of incentives to ensure they are rewarded for their dedication and high achievements within the business.

Reward and recognition is not only linked to our Talent Review Process but is actively acknowledged throughout the year.

Psychological Safety

We ensure that our people have a safe environment to work in and encourage a “speak up” culture, not only to positively challenge the norm but to speak up without fear of retribution. Central to all our business practices is dignity and respect. Our policies on Bullying & Harassment, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Dignity & Respect and Whistleblowing ensure that employees have a voice and a process to speak up against inappropriate behaviour or processes.

We believe a diverse workforce is a key driver in supporting our competitive edge within the industry and we are fully committed to diversity, equality and inclusion across the business.

While our gender ratio is imbalanced in comparison to wider society, it is characteristic of the maritime industry, which has been historically androcentric. According to the International Chamber of Shipping’s Seafarer Workforce Report 2021, the proportion of female seafarers is estimated to be 1.28 percent of the global seafarer workforce. We are committed to improving the representation of women at ICG through developments to our policies and recruitment process. In the current year, with the refreshing of our Board, and in line with our commitment to improve our gender balance, we are delighted to have improved our board level female gender balance to 33% of the Board.

Safety First

Safety remains one of our top priorities.

Physical risks to safety

We operate in a business where there are significant risks that require mitigation, whether it is managing containers, loading/ unloading ships or moving freight vehicles. Our management team are focused on ensuring all our staff and customers go home safely. The Group has focused on creating a strong safety culture and its performance for the year is a testament to our staff, crews and key third-party contractors who uphold the highest standards of safety in delivering a quality service for our customers. We do this by:

• keeping our safety statements updated yearly, to ensure they cover all our policies and procedures.
• trainings for all staff in high-risk areas.
• specialised training deployed based on the risk levels.
• Drills and exercises to test systems practices and resilience of our systems.

In 2022, we are part of the founding members of Dublin Safe port, a Dublin port wide safety initiative which is designed to continually enhance safety culture and practice for all workers in Dublin Port. This initiative will include safety awareness campaigns, trainings and which will take place port-wide with the objective enhancing port safety culture and practice for the long-term.

On our ships, we actively follow all aspects of the International Safety Management System (ISM) code which is the best practice in international shipping.

One of the benefits of our RTG electrification program, is that our upgraded cranes are now driven remotely from a safe and comfortable office based control centre. This is inherently safer, as staff are not required to be in the yard. In addition, it opens the role to staff who may not have been considered previously due to physical disabilities and the requirement to climb the crane to reach the cabin. Our workforce has become more inclusive as a result.

In 2022, we upgraded our digital booking system for our hauliers. Our app-based system allows for virtual orders and collections and importantly “Just in Time arrivals” of our hauliers to our terminals. It has reduced congestion and idling times in the port area considerably as all arrivals are prebooked into the system improving efficiency and safety for all parties.

LTIF statistics

Our LTIF statistics are set out on page 58 and we are delighted to report that our LTIF (Lost Time Injury Frequency) which measures the number of recordable workplace incidents resulting in lost days over a year per million hours worked saw a 16 percent decrease in LTIF, despite a 50 percent increase in the Group’s total exposure hours. These results are within our previously set targets for 2022 of LTIF on land <5 and LTIF at sea <3.5. Notwithstanding this statistic, we remain acutely aware that our workspaces are inherently high risk and continually ensure that safety awareness is always to the forefront of how we operate.

All reported safety incidents are investigated internally to ensure all necessary steps are taken to improve and to prevent reoccurrences. Where required, we also report incidences to external authorities and co-operate fully with any inquiries.

Health

We comply with all health regulations issued by regulatory authorities to ensure minimum risk of illness to our customers, employees and contractors. We have implemented Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems on board our vessels in all food handling areas and are subject to regular third-party inspections.

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to creating a positive working environment whereby all employees are respected, valued and can reach their full potential. We believe that a diverse workforce brings a range of skills and experience which will help to make us more creative and competitive. As well as treating people with dignity and respect, ICG strives to create a supportive environment in which all employees can flourish and reach their full potential.

In order to attract, recruit, develop and retain the very best people, we have created an approach based on three key principles:

• Equality - we promote equality of opportunity by seeking to remove barriers, eliminating bias, and ensuring equal opportunities and access for all.
• Diversity - we accept each person as an individual. Our success is built on our ability to embrace diversity – and we believe that everyone should feel valued for their contributions. By working together, we will deliver the best possible service for our staff and stakeholders.
• Inclusion - we create a working culture where differences are not merely accepted but valued; where everyone can develop in a way that is consistent with, and adheres to, ICG’s values of impartiality, honesty, integrity, and objectivity.

Our aim is to be an organisation where people feel involved, respected, and connected to our success. At ICG, we strive to be a fully inclusive employer. This includes supporting our workforce by providing the flexibility for a positive work life balance, while continuing to ensure our needs as a business are met. To this effect, we facilitate hybrid working arrangements for our staff.

Whistleblowing

ICG is committed to having the highest standards of integrity and transparency. As part of this commitment, we have developed a Protected Disclosure Policy to encourage employees, board members, shareholder and job applicants or any person who has worked for ICG to make a disclosure where they may have a genuine concern and to provide protection for the person making the disclosure.

We seek to always conduct our business honestly and with integrity. It is our policy as an employer to ensure that at every level of management our business complies with all legal requirements that govern our activities. However, we acknowledge that all businesses face the risk of their activities going wrong from time to time, or of unknowingly harbouring malpractice. We believe we have a duty to take appropriate measures to identify such situations and to attempt to remedy them. By encouraging a culture of openness and accountability, we believe we can help prevent such situations occurring. The full details of our Protected Disclosure policy can be found on our website. No disclosures under this policy were received by the Group during 2022.

Anti-bribery

ICG values its reputation and is committed to maintaining the highest level of ethical standards in the conduct of its business affairs. The actions and conduct of our staff as well as others acting on our behalf are key to maintaining these standards.

We take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships wherever we operate and implement and enforce effective systems to counter bribery. As such, we have developed an Anti-Bribery Policy which applies to all employees, partners/directors, agents, consultants, and contractors. The policy can be read in full on our website. All forms of bribery or business courtesies that may create the appearance of a bribe are strictly forbidden. Limits and pre-approval requirements are imposed on the quantum and frequency of business courtesies received by staff.

In 2022, there were no investigations from external parties into allegations of bribery or corruption.

Human Rights

We are committed to the highest standards of business and ethical behaviour and to the respect of internationally recognised human rights as established in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s Core Conventions. Our Human Rights Policy and Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy which applies to all ICG employees, contractors, agents and business partners, can be accessed through our website. We have a zero-tolerance policy to modern slavery, human trafficking or the use of child labour in our supply chain.

We take an open and transparent approach, taking steps to identify and tackle any instances of modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain which we outline in our Supplier Code of Conduct. ICG and its ship management service providers undertake regular training, including training provided by the United Nations Migration Agency in relation to human trafficking and labour exploitation. The Group requires a due diligence process to be conducted prior to the appointment of a contractor together with in-contract reviews. Within its day-to-day operations, the Group has in place a range of measures to help ensure modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in its business or its supply chains.

Measures adopted include:

• Provision of guidance to employees to support immigration and border agency initiatives to reduce human trafficking, which augments general observation for unusual behaviour in our ports and on board our vessels including signs of distress or other cues that may highlight any potential issue. Awareness of this issue is promulgated across all Group businesses.
• Working with other companies and organisations to share knowledge, learning and best practice and co-operating with a series of law-enforcement projects that help to combat human trafficking and modern slavery.
• Regular updates to management and committees on modern slavery so that Directors and key individuals understand their role and accountability for the prevention of modern slavery occurring in our businesses and supply chains.
• Actively monitoring our initiatives in preventing modern slavery and human trafficking by reference to reports and alerts from staff, the public and communication with law enforcement agencies.

Better together: Our own Nora Costello (Consumer Marketing and Sales Director) and a task force from Dublin, Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team, including Kai, Boomer and Maggie, the teams search and rescue dogs.

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Society

Corporate Social Responsibility

ICG remains committed to contributing to causes that can make a difference. ICG is proud to be a member of the local communities in which we operate. Over the past year, we have continued to support our charitable partners through our CSR programme.

ICG are longstanding supporters of the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team (DWMRT). The team share our commitment to the safety of our communities. Irish Ferries assist the DWMRT with transport services for rescue dogs, volunteers, and equipment to carry out critical search and training operations in Ireland.

We would also like to thank our customers for making their own contributions to important causes. Onboard our Irish Ferries vessels we have collections to support the Royal National Lifeboat Association (RNLI) who are the largest charity saving lives across the seas of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Our customers also contributed to the Irish Heart Foundation by choosing healthy meal options onboard. A percentage of proceeds from healthy meals marked with a heart on our menu is donated to the Irish Heart Foundation.

Over the past year, we have continued to support the Irish Whale and Dolphin Association in their monitoring work. We facilitate the Irish Whale and Dolphin Association to come on board to conduct viewing exercises to monitor the behaviour and populations of whale and dolphin species around our coastline.

ICG are a proud supporter of the St. Patrick’s festival in Ireland and provide transport for some of the participating bands and acts who travel from the UK for the event. We were delighted to have the festival back after two years of cancellations due to Covid restrictions, it remains a great event for the family and one of the highlights of our visitors trips to Ireland.

Sunflower Lanyard

Irish Ferries has adopted the hidden disability Sunflower Lanyard scheme across its entire fleet, being the first Irish travel operator to do so. Available to all passengers with hidden disabilities, and an addition to the full range of services already available to passengers with restricted mobility, the discreet Sunflower Lanyard enables crew who are specially trained, to readily identify those on-board who may require some extra help, time, or assistance. We continue to look for ways to ensure all customers can enjoy our services.

Supporting Tourism and Local Economies

Irish Ferries continued to work throughout the year with state tourism agencies in Ireland (Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland) as well as in our tourism source markets for Wales (Visit Wales) and France (Normandy Tourism and Cotentin Tourism).

This year we participated in Tourism Ireland’s ‘Press the Green Button’ campaign to encourage tourists back to Ireland after the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign aims to drive bookings for holidays in Ireland and to position the tourism industry well for years ahead.

We love to showcase the best our local artisan producers have to offer and delight our customers in turn with exquisite tastes in our onboard restaurants whether it is our local seafood supplier from Howth, Irish beef and dairy or our breakfast meats that are sourced in counties Kilkenny and Cork. All are foods are Origin Green certified, meaning the farms and producers we source from are independently monitored and verified under Ireland’s pioneering food and drink sustainability program. We support our local producers where-ever possible.

We are a strong promotor of Irish beverages, not only the larger brands but also smaller producers of craft beers and spirits. Our coffees are provided by a Dublin-based roaster using the world’s first purpose-built carbon neutral roastery in Dublin. All coffees and teas served on board are fair trade certified. We use local suppliers to service our new Dover-Calais route, including our UK-based coffee supplier that engages in various social projects to support farmers in Guatemala, Tanzania and Peru. We source our on-board wines from a distributor in Cherbourg that provides a vast selection of wines from large and small French wineries. We promote local French wines through special wine tasting events in conjunction with our partner in Cherbourg. Customers have the opportunity to meet with local wine producers and learn more about different wine regions and varietals. We also offer a wide variety of plant-based food and drink options in all our cafés and restaurants.

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Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

We set out our disclosures that are aligned to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures framework.

Details of how ICG is making progress in implementing the recommendations of the TCFD are set out below. In addition to the four key areas of governance, strategy, risk management and metrics and targets, a complete Appendix cross referencing disclosure against the 11 recommendations is included on page 54 of the Annual Report.

Governance

Everything we do at ICG is underpinned by strong governance. Climate-related risks and opportunities are managed and being integrated as a core component of strategy and performance from the highest level of the business. As a leading maritime transport group, in what is an increasingly regulated industry, we recognise how important it is for us to play a leading role in driving more sustainable shipping. Our purpose and strategy are fully aligned to this goal. Oversight of climate-related issues is provided by the Board as a whole, with support from the Audit Committee, in particular in relation to climate risks and opportunities. In terms of management, we have dedicated significant resources to ensuring that climate risks and opportunities are at the forefront of day-to-day activities and operations. Management provides regular updates to the board on the wider sustainability agenda. We continue to review the governance of climate-related risks and opportunities to ensure our frameworks evolves with the demands of the outside world.

Strategy

Through our purpose, commitments to contribute to the UN SDG and from regulation, ensuring our strategy is aligned with reduced impact on the environment is a core component of our efforts. It is for this reason we have made significant strides in detailing our environmental impact over the past years while also committing to reducing that impact, with data and effective governance at the heart of those steps.

To gain a better understanding of how climate change might impact our business, we have qualitatively reviewed different scenarios occurring over the coming years. These assessments looked at potential physical and transitionary risks of a changing climate such as flooding and water stress, as well as the risks associated with a transition to a low-carbon economy such as international climate policy and the impacts of carbon pricing. As an industry with stringent environmental-related regulations, the implications of regulatory steps have been a core part of our scenario analyses since before the introduction of the TCFD.

The analysis evaluated the implications for ICG’s facilities, fleet and suppliers, as well as the impacts on our consumers. The analysis of both physical and transition risks showed that in both scenarios there is likely to be some financial risks which would need to be managed, but none that would materially impact our business model.

While these analyses were conducted on a qualitative basis and form the foundation of the climate-related risks and opportunities provided below, we aim to conduct a quantitative scenario analysis against a range of warming scenarios in the periods ahead.

Risk management

Climate-related risk management is integrated into our enterprise risk management process, as detailed extensively on pages 60 to 69. The enterprise risk management process is designed to identify, assess, monitor and report on all risk related to the business. Through the TCFD lens, ICG prioritised the climate risk and opportunity assessment, and set out the following risks and opportunities related to climate change:

A summary of the main climate related risks are set out:

 

Metrics and targets

Over the past number of years, we have commenced collection and disclosure of a range of measures used to assess and manage climate-related risks and opportunities. We have disclosed our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions and intend to develop our reporting to disclose our scope 3 emissions over time. ICG also adheres to limits on sulphur content of fuel oils, in relation to sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from the shipping sector, investing approximately €25 million on the installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) in our owned and operated fleet.

Targets

Vessel operations

We have reconsidered our targets disclosed from last year and simplified our comments to be focused on the IMO (International Maritime Organisation, a UN body) specific targets. Our guiding principle, when we are setting out our ambitions for our carbon reduction is to align ourselves with the targets set by the IMO and the actions they are requiring of the industry, these targets are:

• 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity from shipping operations by 2030 compared to 2008 levels;
• 50 percent reduction of all GHG from shipping operations by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.

The IMO’s strategy to achieve these goals is to require ever greater levels of efficiency standards from the global fleet. As our starting point we aim to be compliant with all these initiatives over the coming years and will work to achieve the ever-greater levels of technical efficiency requirements set in the years to come. We expect these initiatives on their own will have a significant impact on our carbon intensity target for 2030. We have set the operational and technical measures that we are employing to further achieve these goals in the report above.

These will be challenging targets for us to achieve considering our expansion onto the Dover – Calais route which significantly expands our business footprint. We are confident as we optimise our operations and new technologies become available and come online, we will achieve our targets in due course.

Terminal operations

We have also set the following targets for our terminal operations:

• 70 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025.
• Net zero Scope 1 and 2 operations by 2030.

Baseline years data

Given the length of time since our baseline years and the type of data required, there are challenges to estimate reliably our carbon metrics from those years due to the availability of data. We have made a best estimate of our footprint from our baseline years based on best available data.

Our Progress to date

For our vessel targets, we are measuring our performance against baseline targets using intensity metrics that are based on using “RoRo units” carried for the RoRo fleet (RoRo Fleet: gC02/ RoRo Units/ NM) and TEU's carried for the Container Fleet (Container Fleet: gC02/ TEU's/ NM). Our current progress is set out below.

On our 2050 absolute reduction ambitions of 50% from our 2008 baseline, it will only be when our propulsion technology changes that we will achieve meaningful changes on this metric, given the growth of our business since 2008 and our expanded GHG footprint.

Terminals Decarbonisation plan progress

On our terminal 2025 reduction targets, we have achieved approx. 38% of the target required to date. We anticipate a significant drop in 2023 carbon emissions compared to 2022, especially in the latter half of the year, as our electrified cranes will come online and our existing diesel powered cranes are decommissioned. To achieve our 2025 goal, we are investigating the use of biofuels with the major barrier being security of supply and cost. It is only as a last resort that we will consider a carbon offsetting programme to achieve our target.

Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Appendix

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EU Taxonomy

Background

The EU Taxonomy goal is to create a “definition” of what is considered environmentally sustainable for a business. At its most basic form, the taxonomy creates a list of economic activities and then sets out a list of criteria/ standards that each activity must achieve to be taxonomy aligned and be deemed to be environmentally sustainable. Transport including maritime transport has been included in the list from the start, recognising its importance to wider economy and its potential impact on the environment. The Group has voluntary applied the requirements of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and provided the necessary disclosures. The legislation enacted has set out 6 environmental objectives and for our 2022 reporting season, we are required to report on two of them, climate change mitigation and climate change adaption.

The process to calculate the disclosures requires us to:

• identify what activities are eligible and non-eligible under the taxonomy meaning whether our businesses are included on the taxonomy list or not.
• assess whether the technical criteria or standards set out in the legislation for each activity is met by the business for example one of the key criteria of activity 6.10 ‘Sea and coastal freight water transport, vessels for port operations and auxiliary activities’ is whether the ships in use have Zero tail pipe emissions.
• assess the criteria for no significant harm done to any of the other objectives while also ensuring the minimum safeguards are met.

As the reporting practice develops and expands, we will review and update the reporting of taxonomy-eligible KPIs and related accounting policies accordingly.

Taxonomy Disclosures

Turnover KPI

The total turnover of €584.9 million for the financial year ending 31 December 2022 is the basis for the denominator for the turnover KPI as presented in the Consolidated Income Statement on page 124.

Assessment of Eligible activities

The Group determines it has Taxonomy-eligible undertakings in accordance with activity 6.10 ‘Sea and coastal freight water transport, vessels for port operations and auxiliary activities’ (Annex I: climate change mitigation/ Annex II: climate change adaptation).

All integrated services necessary to and dependent on the operation of vessels for the combined transport of freight and passengers on sea or coastal waters are also considered eligible and are therefore included within the reported metrics below. This includes service activities incidental to water transportation such as; on board passenger services, Group stevedoring services and quay-to-door container transport services that are component activities embedded within our sea transport offerings to customers. As a result, 100% of our operations are deemed eligible.

Assessment of Aligned Activities

We have assessed the substantial contribution criteria for both the climate change mitigation criteria and the adaptation criteria as set out in the delegated acts. We have found that none of the eligible activities are aligned given the various technical criteria tests. Given the age of our vessels, notwithstanding the significant investments made, for example the installation of scrubbers to improve their technical ability minimising the output of sulphur and other particulate matters, they do not meet the technical criteria set out in the delegated acts for mitigation or adaption. From an adaption perspective, we do not meet the technical criteria associated with the substantial contribution criteria, as a business, we operate with a number of key stakeholders and the development of robust physical adaptation solutions given the low-level nature of the ports is challenging.

OpEx KPI

The amounts reflecting direct non-capitalised costs relating to short-term leasing, maintenance and repair expenses and any other direct expenditures relating to the day-to-day servicing of Group assets or third parties to whom the activities are outsourced that are necessary to ensure the continued and effective functioning of such assets were considered for the denominator calculation.

The numerator is derived from an analysis of the operating expenses associated with Taxonomy-eligible activities. As with our turnover, 0% of eligible OpEx is aligned.

CapEx KPI

The capital expenditures amount to €74.4 million, comprising strategic and maintenance capital expenditures. The sum of the additions that reflect investments in Taxonomy-eligible activities forms the numerator. As with our turnover, 0% of eligible CapEx is aligned. Notwithstanding for example the work carried out on electrification of the terminals and the impact this has had on reducing our carbon footprint, our interpretation of the taxonomy legislation this expenditure is not eligible for inclusion.

EU Taxonomy Accounting policies

The taxonomy KPIs are calculated as followed:

• Taxonomy revenue KPI = Eligible revenue / Total revenue
• Taxonomy opex KPI = Eligible opex / Total opex
• Taxonomy capex KPI = Eligible capex (additions) / Total capex (additions

Turnover

Turnover consists of total operating revenues. See Consolidated Income Statement on page 124 of our Annual Report alongside note 4 for details of the Group’s revenue generation. The associated critical accounting policies are set out in note 2 of our Annual Report.

Capex

Capex consists of additions to property, plant and equipment. See note 12 of the Consolidated financial statements.

Opex

Opex consists of total operating expenses. See Consolidated Income Statement on page 124 of our Annual Report. The associated critical accounting policies are set out on in note 2 of our Annual Report.

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Metrics and tables

Environmental Data

Shipping Operations

Land Based Operations

Overall Group

Social: Employee Health and Safety and Diversity and Inclusion

Safety Data

Employee Statistics

	31 Dec 2022	31 Dec 2021	31 Dec 2020
Total number of employees	290	284	288
Male	177	173	175
Female	113	111	113
% Female	39%	39%	39%
Full time	271	260	260
Part time	19	24	28
% Part Time Female	83%	83%	86%
Board members	6	6	6
Male	4	5	5
Female	2	1	1
% Female	33%	17%	17%
Management staff	51	52	54
Male	40	41	42
Female	11	11	12
% Female	22%	21%	22%
Total number of new employee hires	38	42	16
Total number of departures	48	47	34
Turnover rate	16%	16%	11%
Male	8.5%	19%	13%
Female	13%	13%	10%

Key Terms, Definitions and Commentary