Climate Change Data

EXPOLANKA HOLDINGS PLC

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2014-04 to 2015-03, 2019-04 to 2020-03, 2021-04 to 2022-03)

Reporting Period: 2014-04 to 2015-03

Environmental Metrics

Total Energy Consumption:175,856 KWH/year
Water Consumption:77,157 Liters/year
Waste Generated:44,000 kg/year (Expolanka Group Sri Lanka), 32,000,000 kg/year (Neptune Papers)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Community Development
  • Employee Relations
  • Governance

Environmental Achievements

  • Implemented 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) policy, resulting in 44,000 kg of recycled paper from Expolanka Group Sri Lanka and 32,000,000 kg from Neptune Papers.
  • Launched Earth Hour campaign and World Water Day initiatives.
  • Hiniduma Tree Planting Initiative to preserve rainforests.

Social Achievements

  • Launched Expo Medix, a chain of medical clinics serving over 200 patients a week.
  • Eyes of Hope project facilitated 25 cataract surgeries and donated spectacles.
  • Provided water purification solutions to four schools in Anuradhapura district.
  • Various employee wellbeing initiatives, including health camps and sports events.

Governance Achievements

  • Established a robust risk management framework.
  • Implemented a strategic enterprise risk management framework.
  • Strengthened corporate governance framework in line with global benchmarks.
  • Complied with GRI G4 guidelines for sustainability reporting.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Not disclosed
Medium-term Goals:
  • Consolidate and focus efforts on outbound travel segment.
  • Seek synergies between sector companies.
  • Explore new geographies with high outbound markets.
  • Consolidate sector’s business pillars.
Short-term Goals:
  • Optimize market potential in US trade lane.
  • Growth through new customers in Europe.
  • Gain market share in Intra-Asia trade lane.
  • Strengthen presence in Africa.

Environmental Challenges

  • Weak demand in the US trade lane in the first half of the year.
  • Margin pressure despite sustained volume growth.
  • Volatility in the tea plantation operations.
  • Intense competitive rivalry in the global market.
  • Loss of two critical GSA partners (Virgin Atlantic in Dubai and Royal Jordanian in Colombo).
Mitigation Strategies
  • Focused efforts to mitigate weak US demand, resulting in healthy growth in the second half.
  • Shifting focus from transaction-based to solutions-based business model.
  • Divestment of non-strategic businesses in the International Trading & Manufacturing sector.
  • Re-engineering of the GSA business model to a full-spectrum service model (ACR).
  • Restructuring of operations in Dubai and exploring new agency relationships (Egypt).

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Sustainable supplier policy; preference given to suppliers with sustainable practices; bulk purchasing; returnable/biodegradable packaging.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI G4 (Core)

Certifications: ISO 9001:2008 (Expolanka Freight Ltd), Carbon Neutral® Certificate (Expolanka Freight Ltd)

Third-party Assurance: Ernst & Young Auditors

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • Recycled paper products; value-added logistics services; TravelBridge; Bongo; Classic Holidays.

Awards & Recognition

  • ISO 9001:2008 (Expolanka Freight Ltd)
  • Carbon Neutral® Certificate (Expolanka Freight Ltd)
  • Four awards from MAST Global Logistics (EFL)
  • TAAI appreciation award (Akquasun)
  • Certificate of Appreciation & Trophy from VNAT, Vietnam (Akquasun)
  • Award for Outstanding Sale Performance from Venetian Macao (Akquasun)
  • Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards (AREA) 2014 for Expo Medix
  • Bronze Award at SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2014 (Expo Freight)
  • Gold Award for Global Reach and Diversified sector at NBE Awards 2014 (Expolanka Holdings PLC)
  • Three awards for Annual Report 2013/14 at LACP Spotlight Awards (Expolanka Holdings PLC)
  • Runners up Award at ACCA Sustainability Awards 2014 (Expolanka Holdings PLC)
  • Silver award from Singapore Airlines (Classic Travel)
  • Gold award from Korean Airlines (Classic Travel)
  • Recognition among Top Agents from Emirates Airlines (EFL Sri Lanka)
  • Gold awards at NCE Awards 2014 (EFL Sri Lanka)
  • Outstanding Agent Achievement Award from Cathay Pacific Airways (EFL Indonesia)
  • Recognition among top 10 Cargo Customers by Swiss Cargo (EFL UAE)

Reporting Period: 2019-04 to 2020-03

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:3844.36 tCO2e/year
Total Energy Consumption:853,636.153 Kwh/year
Waste Generated:7520 kg/year

ESG Focus Areas

  • Local Development
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  • Effluent and Waste
  • Anti-corruption
  • Privacy and Data Protection
  • Economic Performance
  • Market Presence
  • Supplier Social Standards
  • Anti-Competitive Behaviour
  • Remuneration and Benefits
  • Recruitment and Retention
  • Health, Safety and Well Being
  • Human Rights
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Training and Development
  • Climate Change
  • Clean Water and Sanitation
  • Life on Land

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduced Scope 2 emissions due to investment in solar power at the EFL campus (606 tCO2 reduction)
  • Recycled 7520 kg of paper waste
  • Launched the first phase of the EFL Global Goodness Project, providing access to clean drinking water to underprivileged communities
  • Launched a long-term initiative to increase forest cover within the Bundala National Park (Sri Lanka), planting 25,000 trees annually for five years
  • Adopted the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework for emissions calculation and reporting

Social Achievements

  • Launched the EFL Global Goodness initiative, encouraging employee volunteerism in sustainability projects
  • Play Pump Project in South Africa providing clean drinking water to a rural school and community
  • Supported underprivileged schools in Vietnam
  • Provided meals to homeless people in Miami
  • Provided disaster relief to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian
  • Empowered youth through sports in Pakistan

Governance Achievements

  • Implemented a fully-fledged Corporate Management System (CMS) across Expolanka Holdings PLC and its subsidiaries
  • Revised IT security policy to address cybersecurity concerns
  • Implemented the ERP platform across the network

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Scale up logistics operation to boost EFL’s profile as a fully fledged logistics solutions provider with a strong global reach
  • Further strengthen the Group’s leisure brand “Classic Travel”
Medium-term Goals:
  • Consolidate long-standing markets and firm up position in newly established segments
  • Seek out emerging opportunities
  • Grow market share through new customer acquisition and higher wallet share of existing customers
  • Expand portfolio of services to offer fully integrated end-to-end logistics solutions
  • Expand footprint to a wider customer circle
  • Enhance CRM platforms and develop solutions to meet customer needs
Short-term Goals:
  • Mitigate short-term impact of COVID-19
  • Enhance procurement capabilities
  • Implement short-term overhead mitigation initiatives

Environmental Challenges

  • Global slowdown in trade activity due to US-China trade tensions and muted GDP growth
  • Economic impact from Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka
  • COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences
  • Legal dispute with RCS Logistics
  • Yield volatility caused by price fluctuations and capacity challenges in the global freight industry
  • Slowdown in tourist arrivals after Easter Sunday attacks impacting the leisure sector
  • Lockdown restrictions impacting the export operations
Mitigation Strategies
  • Optimized customer performance to retain market positions
  • Focused customer acquisition strategy to increase reach and break into new customer verticals
  • Consolidated air freight operations and applied yield management strategies to safeguard margins in sea freight
  • Resolved legal dispute with RCS Logistics
  • Set up new operations in Denmark and Belgium, and made a strategic acquisition in Belgium
  • Established an operation in Taiwan
  • Implemented digitization initiatives, including ERP platform rollout
  • Short-term cost containment initiatives
  • Leveraged on EFL’s strong ground presence in East Asia to tap into higher cargo flows
  • Moved higher volumes of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) cargo

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier Code of Conduct questionnaire

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI (in accordance with the “core” option), International Integrated Reporting (IR) framework of 2013, Listing rules of the CSE, Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance for public listed Companies

Certifications: ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18000:2007, C-TPAT

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 2: Zero Hunger
  • SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
  • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 13: Climate Action
  • SDG 15: Life on Land

The Expolanka Group aligned its logistics, leisure, and investment arms with the SDGs through business-specific goals and social welfare programs.

Awards & Recognition

  • Best diversity award for their submission in RPA (EFL 3PL)

Reporting Period: 2021-04 to 2022-03

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:4,385.55 tCO2e/year
Scope 1 Emissions:961.00 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:1,864.08 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:1,560.46 tCO2e/year
Waste Generated:20,247 kg/year (paper recycled)
Carbon Intensity:1.58 tCO2e per employee

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Governance
  • Community Development
  • Supply Chain Sustainability

Environmental Achievements

  • Achieved carbon neutrality for the Integrated Annual Report by purchasing UN Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from a wind farm project.
  • EFL 3PL became the first carbon-neutral logistics company in Sri Lanka.
  • EFL 3PL expanded solar power generation capacity.
  • Revive Bundala project planted 70,000+ saplings.
  • Beach clean-up in Bundala removed over 1000kg of waste.

Social Achievements

  • Launched 'Project Empower' to fund low-income female entrepreneurs.
  • Donated a PCR testing machine to Lady Ridgeway Hospital.
  • Donated high-end ICU ventilators to the Ministry of Health.
  • Distributed dry ration packs to 1500 families.
  • Supported rural communities through EFL 3PL’s Gammedda Project.

Governance Achievements

  • Aligned governance frameworks to SG Holdings Ltd. standards.
  • Achieved self-compliance on internal controls and governance tests for three years.
  • Implemented an Anti-Bribery & Corruption Policy.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Not disclosed
Medium-term Goals:
  • Expand international reach to key growth markets in Asia and Africa (EFL 3PL)
  • Grow market share and diversify into new industry verticals (Oki Doki)
  • Expand network with selective airlines and develop key operating markets (EAM)
  • Expand into new markets, enhance product offerings, and leverage digital capabilities (Classic Travel)
  • Continue portfolio restructuring and focus on higher-yielding products (Export Operations)
  • Consolidate operations and set the platform for growth (ITX 360)
Short-term Goals:
  • Not disclosed

Environmental Challenges

  • Global supply chain disruptions due to demand growth, capacity constraints, port congestions, and transport/warehouse space challenges.
  • Pandemic-related restrictions in key origins.
  • Geopolitical tensions, regional economic challenges, and inflationary impacts.
  • Supply-side disruptions and elevated freight rates in the export operations.
  • Macroeconomic challenges in Sri Lanka (fuel shortages, increased fuel costs, and availability of spares).
Mitigation Strategies
  • Innovative and proactive procurement strategies to secure capacity and optimize costs.
  • Executed over 1000 charter programs.
  • Leveraged long-term carrier partnerships.
  • Expanded 3PL footprint in the US through acquisitions and organic capacity increase.
  • Portfolio restructuring and refocusing on higher-yielding products.
  • Multi-origin sourcing strategy.
  • Investments in digitalization and technology.
  • Business continuity plans and agile responses to challenges.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier environmental and social risk assessments.
  • Compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Integrated Reporting Framework, 2021, GRI Standards: Core option, UN Global Compact Principles

Certifications: ISO 14064:2006, ISO 14001, LEED Gold (EFL 3PL), ISO 9001:2015 (ITX360), ISO 14001:2015 (ITX360), ISO 27001 (Classic Travel), Amfori BSCI, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, SLS 1672:2020, ISO 45001:2018, GOTS, SCAN, GMP, GRS, OCS, RWS (EFL 3PL), ISO22000, ISO 14001, BRC, FSSC 22000, SA 8000, ORGANIC, FIARTRADE, KOSHER (Tropikal Life), Organic, BRC, SEDEX, ISO22000, HACCP, GMP (Expolanka Limited)

Third-party Assurance: Ernst & Young

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation)
  • Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)
  • Goal 13 (Climate Action)
  • Goal 14 (Life Below Water)
  • Goal 15 (Life on Land)
  • Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

Initiatives such as PlayPump Project, solar power generation, Revive Bundala, and Project Empower contribute to these goals.

Awards & Recognition

  • Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Special Achievement Award
  • Global Commerce Excellence award
  • The Outstanding young Persons award
  • Legend of Logistics award
  • National Logistics Awards (Gold)
  • National Business Excellence Awards
  • SLIM B2B Brand of the Year (Gold)
  • Great Place to Work® 2021 certification
  • Fortinet SMB Hero 2021
  • Best solution provider of the year award (ITX360)
  • One of the first hundred Best Workplaces in Asia 2021 (Classic Travel)