Boskalis Annual Report 2020

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SUSTAINABILITY

The principal strategic objective of Boskalis is the creation of long-term sustainable profitability. The systematic execution of the corporate strategy, that is reviewed regularly in light of relevant market developments, is key to our success. Our sustainability strategy is derived from the corporate business strategy, and ongoing interaction and dialog with our stakeholders.

SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY Through our sustainability strategy we aim to support our business strategy and strengthen our contribution to the SDGs. Our sustainability strategy steers our actions across the sustainability topics most material to our business. Our approach is informed by our materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement. Critically, our strategy is formulated with the senior leadership team to ensure the ambition and action is closely aligned with and supports our business strategy. As we move forward in our sustainability journey, we will continue to prioritize these ambitions and actions throughout our business, involving our stakeholders and our employees. Our sustainability strategy is structured around three tiers: our purpose cornerstones, sustainability focus areas and responsible business principles. Individual topics within the tiers originate from the engagement we have with our stakeholders and are derived from the materiality assessment. The clustering of the topics within the three tiers is briefly described below and is elaborated on in our Sustainability Report 2020, which is available on our website (www.boskalis.com). TIER 1. PURPOSE CORNERSTONES The first tier captures the core areas of our business that create economic and societal value and contribute to the SDGs. This contribution is closely linked to our purpose, “Creating and protecting welfare and advancing the energy transition”. Through our activities and business we directly contribute to four SDGs, which we have labeled our purpose cornerstones. These are: Innovation, Industry and Infrastructure; Climate Action; Life Below Water; and Affordable and Clean Energy. Our activities facilitate world trade, create infrastructure and new land for society; our coastal defense and riverbank protection activities help protect society and the natural environment from the consequences of climate change, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions; our marine salvage business helps protect valuable vessels and their crews and cargoes, as well as Life Below Water from environmental disasters; and our energy services contribute to the delivery of affordable and clean energy. With each cornerstone we aim to generate economic value while addressing environmental and societal opportunities, needs and challenges. The specific way we do this from a sustainability perspective is addressed in the second and third tiers.

report of the board of management ANNUAL REPORT 2020 – BOSKALIS