COSCO has released its first Annual Sustainable Development Report under the United Nations' Global Compact initiative. The report, verified by DNV, covers the three critical aspects of sustainability – economic performance, environmental protection performance and social impact.

“I made a promise on implementation of Global Compact to the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. After two years of efforts, COSCO established its Global Compact Social Responsibilities Management System and issued the sustainable development report,” said COSCO President Capt Wei Jiafu, who added “ the release of the report meant that the COSCO Group can be listed among the top-grade enterprises in the world, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with giants of industry.”

As the first Chinese enterprise to implement the Global Compact, COSCO is also the first state-owned company that compiled such a report according to requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative.

Peter Bjerager, DNV Senior Vice President and COO for DNV Industry remarked, “COSCO has made a great step forward by issuing its first Annual Sustainable Development Report.” He also mentioned that COSCO has requested all subsidiaries to implement proper systems for sustainability related reporting.

“We also expect more state-owned and private enterprises in China will be inspired by COSCO’s sustainability initiative and start the journey towards sustainable development,” added Mr Bjerager.

COSCO is also the first enterprise in Asia that applied DNV verification protocol for sustainability reporting.