Citizenship

Helping those most in need

Ambition

We engage in global partnerships and support local communities and initiatives in areas where we can leverage Maersk assets and expertise to make an impact aligned with Maersk’s business and sustainability goals. Donations and social investments are guided by corporate guidelines.

Targets

• Continue engagement and partnership with the Logistics Emergency Teams and The Ocean Cleanup

• Leverage partnership platforms to promote employee engagement

• Improve documentation and disclosure of donations activities and impact

Humanitarian relief efforts were catapulted into acute priority following the Russian invasion of Ukraine14. As a member of the Logistics Emergency Team, A.P. Moller - Maersk (Maersk) supported humanitarian aid relief with large-scale in-kind logistics assistance. Maersk worked with, and through, UN partners and other humanitarian organisations, with a team of 40 specialists from Maersk devoted to the efforts. This included working with authorities to coordinate a smooth flow of humanitarian support to Ukraine and establishing a major aid warehouse in partnership with WFP, the UN World Food Programme and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. This hub was a main transit warehouse to deliver humanitarian assistance into Ukraine and was provided to UNHCR and WFP on a pro bono basis during the first half year of the crisis. A central donation facility was set up through which Maersk employees donated nearly USD 72,000 to the Danish Red Cross to support Ukraine. Maersk matched this for a combined donation of DKK 1 million (USD 144,000). A donation of similar size was made by Maersk to the Sheltersuit Foundation to support the supply and transportation of sheltersuits to an NGO in Ukraine. This foundation makes garments and sleeping bags to protect vulnerable people from the elements, using repurposed materials and creating employment opportunities.

In Pakistan, Maersk provided humanitarian relief for 2022’s unprecedented monsoon floods, which swept away infrastructure and left millions homeless. Maersk supported UNICEF with logistics and customs expertise and warehouse capacity near Port Qasim, the country’s second-busiest port, to rapidly distribute over 2.7 tonnes of cargo including mosquito nets, tents and hygiene kits. We helped deliver urgently needed water purification modules donated by the Danish Emergency Management Agency, and we were able to leverage our local network to distribute essential food items to 450 families.

Continued support for The Ocean Cleanup

Since 2018, we have partnered with The Ocean Cleanup to provide offshore and logistics support for their cleanup systems to rid the world’s oceans and major rivers of plastic pollution. By the end of 2022, the larger System 002 in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch had cleaned a total of close to 200,000 kg of plastic. Maersk also supported the transport of the collected plastic to certified recycling facilities in Europe.

Engaging our employees in citizenship

In our annual ‘Go Green’ week, local Maersk teams are encouraged to take action in support of the natural environment. 2022 focused on ocean health and sustainable resource use. To make it easier for employees to support citizenship activities in their own communities, we initiated streamlining of our guidelines and processes for local donations in 2022. When complete in 2023, this work will align our donation framework with our organisation, ESG priorities and best practices of corporate giving.

Working around the world

Maersk employees regularly engage in ESG activities such as Go Green Week. Teams from Algeciras, Spain (top) and Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico (bottom) participated in 2022.

We are proud that our engagement programme in in Alang, India won recognition in the Indian CSR Health Impact Awards for making a meaningful difference in the lives of workers in the ship recycling industry. See p. 38. Together with the A.P. Moller Foundation, Maersk makes an annual contribution of a combined DKK 2 million to the national donation drive ‘Danmarks Indsamling’. This year, the funds benefitted children impacted by COVID-19 in developing countries.