SEKO Logistics (SEKO) has released its 2022-2023 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, which shows the company's accomplishments and goals in ESG initiatives from 2022 to 2023.
The end-to-end global logistics provider also announced the appointment of Kai Lincoln, its first-ever global vice president of sustainability, in 2022.
"I am excited to share our company's first-ever ESG report. Last year was significant in SEKO's journey as we established the company's first-ever ESG mission and goals. This report continues that momentum and serves as a benchmark upon which we can continue building," Lincoln said.
In addition to establishing its first ESG goals and mission, SEKO named Lincoln in 2022.
The company also made measurable accomplishments towards achieving its ambitious goals, including submitting a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050 and submitting our initial commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) — a partnership between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
As part of this commitment, SEKO moved its global headquarters to a LEED Gold, ENERGY START, BOMA 360 and WiredScore Gold-rated building in Schaumburg, Ill.
Through its partnership with global humanitarian organization Airlink, SEKO donated 140 shipments of 914 tons of aid, reaching 2.2 million individuals in Ukraine, Türkiye, Syria and other regions who were impacted by conflict, global health issues and natural disasters.
It also established a Women in Logistics Leadership (W.I.L.L.) employee resource group to empower women within the organization in their careers and in their daily lives.
"Despite 2022 proving to be a difficult year for the global economy and presenting unique challenges for our industry, we made significant strides toward our ESG goals," said James Gagne, chief executive officer at SEKO.
"In particular, I am deeply proud of the work our team has done to show support for the people of Ukraine, Turkiye and Syria, as well as the work that we have accomplished to establish our carbon calculation tools, our facility energy and vendor audits, and the completion of this inaugural report," he added.
Since February 2022, SEKO has donated and provided more than US$300,000 in goods and services to support those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine, including pallets of medical supplies, emergency first aid kits and other trauma supplies, at no cost.
In Türkiye and Syria, SEKO provided trucking services to transport 58 pallets of clothing and other essential supplies that were delivered via a specially chartered Virgin Atlantic cargo-only flight.
SEKO has also joined industry-led initiatives such as the Sustainable Air Freight Alliance (SAFA) to learn and contribute within its partner community and sourced home compostable e-commerce packaging, which breaks down in less than 180 days into completely non-toxic elements.
In 2022, SEKO also introduced sustainability training internally for its more than 3,000 employees.
