ODFJELL
Shipping underpins global trade, but its climate footprint is increasingly under scrutiny. Odfjell is a Norway-based global shipping company specialising in transporting chemicals in bulk. The company operates around 80 large chemical tankers worldwide, serving industrial customers moving liquids over long distances.
For Øistein Jensen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Odfjell, climate risk is now a central strategic issue.“ I believe the greatest risk to both climate and nature is the assumption that someone else will solve the problem for us,” he says.“ Climate risk is not a distant or abstract issue – it is a material risk to people, the planet, and to business performance itself. Framing it purely as a compliance matter misses the point. That said, one of the key transition risks companies face is the growing gap between the pace of regulatory development and our ability to adapt. If we fail to act proactively, we risk not keeping up with increasingly ambitious expectations.”
On the physical side, more frequent extreme weather, flooding in ports and heatwaves all affect day-to-day operations. These events pose safety, reliability and cost challenges for crews and cargoes positioned across multiple regions.“ They are risks that we need to adapt to,” Øistein explains.
Yet it is transition risk that dominates his thinking. Shipping is among the most heavily regulated global industries, and climate rules are tightening at international and regional level.
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