Felix Hamer, expedition line HX’s strategy manager (sustainability), said brands shouldn’t be afraid of admitting they are at the start of a journey, and should start taking whatever action they can – even if it starts with low-hanging fruit – with a focus on transparency rather than perfection in the first instance.

"We need the carrot and the stick," said Hamer in conversation with TerraVerde Sustainability founder and sustainability, Patrick Richards. "We need the fines and the financial incentives to decarbonise. And we need them to ramp up quickly – there are very few regulations that are really pushing us to decarbonise properly.

"Even the IMO [International Maritime Organisation] is talking about 2028. But what about 2027 and 2026?"

Hamer said anyone working in sustainability was keen for regulation to be laid. "If I’m trying to justify decarbonisation internally, and saying we need to invest – say – one hundred thousand to one million this year, but there’s legislation being talked about that may be implemented in 2028, the impetus is all taken out from my discussion.

"It’s a very stressful time to be in this industry for that reason."

Richards said that there was a perception that acting on ESG [environmental, social and governance] and the regulations governing how businesses act was "very bureaucratic", and asked Hamer whether there were any shortcuts to speed up adoption of better practices.

"My recommendation would be that transparency is much more important than perfection," he replied. "You shouldn’t be afraid to say you’re at the start of this journey, that this is a partial report and that you’ll improve it next year and the year after. Just get going, because transparency is a real problem in the industry.

"We released our first environmental report in 2017. I looked back at it last night, and it is basic. But as we’ve been doing it ever since, we’ve got better and better at measuring – more robust and broader measurements, measuring more things.

"When CSRB [EU corporate sustainability reporting] came in, our auditors said we need to have a plan. We did our double materiality assessment, which is something people are going to have to do to see what part of the reporting they should do, it was actually much easier for us because we already had that reporting in place."

Richards asked Hamer if he had any advice for businesses keen to follow HX’s lead and embrace, rather than run away from, the problem. "So there are two things. One, just start reporting – even if it’s basic – and the second thing is to start taking action.

"If you map out the things you can do – materiality versus difficulty – then just do the things that are low difficulty, high materiality, and just get going. And again, if you’re reporting, that’s how you keep honest."

Richards said cost was typically seen as a barrier to progress on ESG and asked Hamer how he assessed the cost-benefit ratio within HX. "Cost is not always a direct one-to-one, pound in, pound out situation," he said. "I benefit from the fact sustainability is one of our core USPs as a company.

"It’s about bridging the gap. Purchasing biofuel, for example, comes at a crazy premium right now. We have to find reasons to do it. Then there’s communication. When we get a positive publication, that is justification for us investing in something.

"So you really have to marry the marketing and communications with the input. It’s still intangible, but it’s more tangible."