1. IMPA ACT is now a 360° sustainability solution
In meeting the globally-endorsed minimum standard for Responsible Business Conduct (the UNGPs and the OECD Guidelines), companies must ensure that they not only ask their business relationships to adhere to these standards, but that they also comply with the standards themselves. While IMPA ACT 1.0 mainly catered and enabled the former, IMPA ACT 2.0 will also be encouraging, facilitating and helping all companies to do the work internally too (i.e. set up a policy commitment, conduct regular CSR due diligence and maintain a remediation system).
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
Before, as a ship-owner or -manager, you used to focus mainly on working with your suppliers towards alignment with the IMPA ACT Code of Conduct (known as Responsible Supply Chain Management). As a supplier or manufacturer, you used to focus on doing the work within your own company in your partnership with a ship-owner (without extending this to your own business relationships).
From now on, our members will need to do both. You will have to make sure that not only you extend the IMPA ACT Code's requirements to your business relationships, but that you also work internally towards meeting the minimum standard for Responsible Business Conduct; that is, create a policy commitment, conduct regular CSR due diligence and set up a remediation system. The great news? IMPA ACT 2.0 has a great platform helping you make easy work of your regular due diligence process, as well as additional guidance and templates.
2. From suppliers to business relationships
A company’s supply chain is usually understood to be limited to its suppliers, but the UNGPs and OECD-GME extend the responsibility to respect internationally-endorsed principles for human rights, environment and anti-corruption to all business relationships established by a company (suppliers and customers). IMPA ACT 2.0 encourages members to extend the IMPA ACT Code to all their business relationships.
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
IMPA ACT 2.0 will continue to facilitate collaboration around CSR between companies operating in the shipping industry and their suppliers. However, it is good practice to begin extending our Code to all your business relationships. After all, responsibility in business is about making sure everyone in your value chain is equally responsible.
3. Environmental areas now include climate
The IMPA ACT Code of Conduct has expanded and the environmental areas have now been aligned with the EU Taxonomy Areas. This ensures that going forward, companies managing impacts on all of the new areas will automatically meet both second and third criterion from the EU Regulation on Sustainable Investments.
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
You will need to have a look at the new Code of Conduct, customise it to your own company, and make sure you update those business relationships to whom you have already sent the old one that the environmental areas have been expanded to include climate.
4. csrCloud is members' new CSR due diligence platform
csrCloud is our new platform of choice that allows IMPA ACT member companies to conduct CSR due diligence on their operational impacts on human rights, environment and anti-corruption , collaborate with colleagues from different departments towards doing so and share external results with their business relationships. All part of our efforts to ensure that members can work towards meeting the minimum standard for Responsible Business Conduct within their own company too.
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
Step one of the IMPA ACT process has always asked our members to commit internally to work towards the requirements of the IMPA ACT Code of Conduct. However, under IMPA ACT 1.0, members were unable to easily conduct their own CSR due diligence.
Under IMPA ACT 2.0, all IMPA ACT members now have access to csrCloud, an all-in-one CSR due diligence tool allowing businesses to manage and document CSR due diligence in one efficient system.
This means you will be able to collaborate with colleagues from different departments towards creating your first operational impact assessment against all the principles and rights included in the IMPA ACT Code of Conduct. You will be able to set reminders for regularly assessing these impacts and share external results with stakeholders and business relationships. A secure, private and guided process.
You should have already received an email from csrcloud@csrcloud.com (please check your junk folder) a few months back to set things up. If you have not yet set everything up and cannot find the email, get in touch with us and we will be happy to resend.
Access csrCloud and the guidance to using it by going to your Members' Area and logging in here.
5. A new IMPA ACT Members' Area is active
Members have access to a new IMPA ACT Members' Area with new resources, including new guidance for conducting their first impact assessment, as well as links to our guides, discussion forum and the csrCloud.
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
The old IMPA ACT Members' Area is no longer in use. For documents and resources, please use the new Members' Area. We emailed you the password some time ago. Can't find it? Get in touch.
6. Join our new LinkedIn group for IMPA ACT Members
A new group is now available on LinkedIn, for IMPA ACT members who would like to share experience and best practice around their implementation of Responsible Business Conduct standards. Please feel free to invite colleagues within your company that also work with IMPA ACT to join the group and their requests will be approved promptly. Request to join the group here. All posts need to be approved before being made live, therefore please rest assured that we will do our best not to allow any spam or advertisements on the group.
7. New certification scheme to ensure proper alignment
A new certification scheme is now in place for all IMPA ACT member companies, allowing our team to certify members once they have set up the systems and processes required under IMPA ACT.
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
Preferred Suppliers are a thing of the past. Certified Companies are the new norm.
Our ambition is to form a community of frontrunner companies who work hard towards meeting the minimum standard for Responsible Business Conduct. Under IMPA ACT 1.0, ship-owners and -managers were able to certify suppliers themselves and deeming them 'Preferred', while being unable to certify themselves.
Under IMPA ACT 2.0, we want to make sure that all companies can reach 'IMPA ACT certified' status (or, as previously known, 'preferred') and that they continue to maintain it. To the right standards.
So we have introduced an additional - completely optional - service available to all IMPA ACT members who have succesfully implemented internally the systems required under the IMPA ACT Code (a policy commitment, a due diligence process and a remediation system). It is called an 'IMPA ACT Certification Scheme'. It will be our team who will conduct the necessary evaluation to ensure that companies do indeed meet the minimum standard for Responsible Business Conduct. Starting 2023, all our current "Preferred" companies will need to undergo this scheme in order to maintain 'certified' status.
For specific prices, please have a look on our Get Involved page.
8. New third-party consultancy services available
We have been asked time and time again to offer consultancy services for our member companies. So we have worked hard to ensure we are able to do just that. Through Alexony Consulting, our newest undertaking, we will now be able to offer IMPA ACT members a 360° onboarding process, helping them create their first compliant policy commitment, conduct their first impact assessment and ensure their remediation system is efficient.
❓ What does this mean for me as an IMPA ACT member?
Through a combination of desk research, interviews and calls, Alexony will be able to work with your company towards capacity-building around CSR, creating a compliant policy commitment and offering a walk-through your company's first impact assessment on csrCloud. Find out more here.
9. IMPA ACT fees are changing
In line with our efforts to create a level-playing field between the companies joining the IMPA ACT initiative (be they ship-owners/-managers or maritime suppliers), we have recently adjusted our membership prices. Fees are being made identical for all suppliers and purchasers, with the amounts payable being dependent on the company size. New IMPA ACT members who join starting from and including 09 June 2022 have started paying the new fee effective immediately.
Members that have been with us before June will be affected from 01 January 2023 (whenever the renewal comes up in 2023). However, as a massive thank you for your support, a generous discount will be extended from the new fee.
