Driving sustainability through partnerships and governance

How do we incorporate ESG issues into our decision making and everyday operations? In this article, we highlight insights from our 2022 Sustainability Report, exploring key aspects related to our organizational structure, strategic governance, and risk management. This includes our emphasis on regional business involvement, strategic external partnerships, our involvement in the European Transport Board, and our ESG ratings by two independent agencies.

At TIP Group, sustainability is integrated into our business. From our governance models to our external collaborations, environmental, social and responsibility principles inform our decision-making and operations. Driving this, is the “Management” programme of TIP Group’s sustainability strategy ‘for Generation to Come’. Under this heading, we have combined our approach to Management and Governance & Risk.

Robust Internal ESG Structures

We have established a dedicated ESG function overseen by our ESG Committee, which includes our CEO and executive team members.

Having a dedicated ESG function within TIP Group and extending our internal controls provides a basis for responsible business conduct and ensures we incorporate ESG issues into our decision-making. This has led to a wide variety of initiatives, decisions, and – most importantly – results, of which we would like to mention a few.

Critical Collaborations Across our Value Chain

Achieving our ambitious sustainability goals hinges on the support and dedication of our regional businesses as well as our collaboration with external partners. Over the next five years, we expect that regional initiatives will drive more than 80% of our sustainability spending on projects such as solar panel installation, charging stations and more energy-efficient LED lighting at our worksites. At the same time, our partnership with companies will enhance our capabilities in terms of energy monitoring and trailer refurbishment. 

As a founding member of the European Transport Board (ETB), TIP Group established this alliance of leading transport and logistics companies to create positive change cross the entire industry. With over 300,000 trailers under the management of member companies, the ETB wields immense influence.

The ETB’s mission is to help reduce the environmental impact of road freight, cut down on congestion, increase road safety and improve the industry’s overall effectiveness and efficiency.

As TIP Group, we work through the European Transport Board to raise issues of concern to shape a bright and sustainable future of European transportation industry. These include social and environmental issues, such as carbon reduction, sustainable finance and the application of the EU taxonomy, as well as industry regulation. Learn more here: https://www.europeantransportboard.com/articles

Tracking progress through ESG ratings

To benchmark our progress, independent rating agencies EcoVadis and Sustainalytics assess our performance. Here's a snapshot of the results:

• EcoVadis: TIP has achieved the EcoVadis Silver rating twice in a row, positioning the company in the top 20% among the 100,000-plus companies globally.
• Sustainalytics: Our ESG Risk Rating is 'negligible,' securing the top position in the transport industry and trucking sub-industry. Among the 15,000-plus companies evaluated worldwide, we proudly rank 47th.

While proud of our achievements, we know more work lies ahead with the further implementation of our sustainability strategy: “I expect many more challenges in the coming years, but I am thoroughly encouraged by the work we’ve done so far — as shown in this report — that TIP Group is moving in the right direction, with incredible levels of knowledge and enthusiasm, towards a greener, more sustainable future.” – Bob Fast, President & CEO, TIP Group.

The quote above is an excerpt from ‘Message from our President and CEO’, page 4 of TIP Group Sustainability Report 2022 that can be downloaded from our website. In this report, you will find more information about our sustainability strategy, implementation and the results we have achieved so far.

If you have any questions or would like to provide us with comments or suggestions, please contact our team at ESG@tip-group.com.