Better Health for All

The company's principal goods and services, primarily shipping and logistics, have no direct positive or negative health impact. Similarly, the company generates no revenue from products or activities with direct negative health outcomes. The company does not offer health-related products or services requiring price accessibility considerations.

Maersk supports education and training programs in various countries, including technical learning scholarships in Peru and a container library project in Vietnam. However, there is no specific data on the percentage of vulnerable populations reached. The company's reports include details on risk management, legal cases, tax issues, and due diligence, but do not specifically detail health risks and benefits of its services or products. Investment in innovation is focused on electrification of terminals and warehouses, and alternative marine fuels, not directly on improving health outcomes. The company's operations have health-harming externalities, with the Red Sea situation leading to increased emissions in 2024. While efforts to reduce air pollution, such as testing electric charging stations for ports, could reduce emissions by 5 million tons per year, these are mitigation efforts for existing externalities. Maersk has initiatives to support gender diversity, including training programs for women in select markets, but specific health equity programs are limited to a mobile health unit in Alang, India, for ship recycling workers. The company's reports focus on employee engagement and training, not broader healthcare workforce support. There is no information on preventative health measures. Maersk's reports include a section on data ethics, outlining policies and training for employees on responsible data handling. During public health emergencies, Maersk supported flood relief efforts in several countries in 2024 and provided humanitarian relief in Ukraine and Pakistan in 2022. The company offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental wellbeing, financial advice, and legal counsel, but no broader mental health initiatives are detailed. As a logistics company, it does not hold healthcare-related patents, produce or sell food or nutritional products, engage in health education, or conduct clinical trials, and its products do not have addiction potential.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

In 2022, male employees earned 12.7% more than female employees in the EU, indicating a pay equity ratio of 0.873 (87.3%).

The 2018 Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) was 3.27. Healthcare benefits are provided for over 75,000 people through the MILA (Management-ILA Managed Healthcare Trust Fund), with plan costs below the industry average in 2018. Maersk also offers medical, dental, vision, and 401k benefits.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

In 2024, 87% of suppliers signed and committed to Maersk’s Supplier Code of Conduct.

The company has a target of 100% commitment for suppliers in scope by 2024. Maersk deployed a supplier ESG risk assessment platform in 2025 to assign risk scores and prioritize high-risk suppliers.

Honest & Fair Business

In the past three years, the company incurred approximately $2.16 million in ethics-related regulatory penalties. This includes a DKK 10 million fine (approximately $1.45 million) in May 2022 for failing to notify a merger to the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, and a $707,000 order from OSHA in 2024 for suspending and firing a whistleblower.

The company has a confidential whistleblower system accessible 24/7 in over 75 languages, administered by an independent company, but was ordered by OSHA to revise its policy to allow direct reporting to federal agencies. For anti-corruption, 94% of employees were trained on the Code of Conduct in 2024, with a target of 100% by 2025. The company performs integrity due diligence on third parties and conducts 87 compliance spot checks on entities and processes in 2024. While the whistleblower system is administered by an independent company, there is no broader evidence of independent verification of ethical claims.

Kind to Animals

Maersk has a cargo policy that prohibits carrying products of shark or whale origin and maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal wildlife trade.

The company is a signatory to the Buckingham Palace Declaration of March 2016 and the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, actively participating in the fight against illegal wildlife trade. Additionally, Maersk actively engages with regulators, states, shipping associations, scientific institutions, and NGOs in the development of Underwater Radiated Noise (URN) Management, in line with IMO guidelines.

No War, No Weapons

Maersk states a policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to active conflict zones, including Israel and Gaza, and has strengthened this policy since the Hamas-Israel conflict.

However, Maersk Line Limited (MLL) transports F-35 parts between participating countries, including Israel, and 11 Maersk ships were involved in 43 shipments of military equipment to Israel between October 2023 and September 2024. Maersk also earns DKK 36.3 million per ship annually from the Maritime Security Program (MSP) for transporting military equipment, generating DKK 4.1 billion over the past five years, with MSP ships carrying over 50% of US military equipment in Afghanistan and Iraq. Maersk claims compliance with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, but a shareholder proposal seeking documentation of human rights due diligence regarding arms shipments to Israel was not adopted, and the company's statement of commitment to human rights lacks specific operational details. Maersk states adherence to international standards for responsible business conduct, including the UN Global Compact and OECD guidelines, and compliance processes based on EU, US, and Danish laws and UN resolutions.

Planet-Friendly Business

In 2024, the company's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 83,602,000 tCO₂e.

Maersk's greenhouse gas emissions targets, including a net-zero goal by 2040, have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and are aligned with a 1.5°C pathway. In 2022, 22.7% of operational energy consumption was sourced from renewables. In the same year, 7.1% of capital expenditure was aligned with the EU Sustainable Taxonomy. The company has a net-zero target for 2040. Maersk commits to implementing TCFD recommendations and signposts TCFD-aligned disclosures in its annual reporting. Climate scenario planning is conducted, including a 1.5°C scenario, but full details of the analysis are not disclosed. Maersk has committed to Just Transition principles, and job retention, retraining, and redeployment commitments are stated. In 2022, approximately 1.25 million m³ of water consumption was in High and Very High water stress zones, with 42% in Very High stress zones. The company is integrating social indicators into due diligence procedures on green fuel development projects and has initiated onsite risk and mitigation assessments on vulnerable land-based assets.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

No specific quantitative data relevant to the 'Respect for Cultures & Communities' KPIs was found across the provided articles. The articles, including the 2022 CSR Report and 2024 Corporate Citizenship report, explicitly state that data for metrics such as formal partnerships, local reinvestment, cultural appropriation incidents, cultural impact assessment protocols, local employment ratios, grievance mechanism coverage, and cultural preservation investments are not specified or mentioned.

While grievance mechanisms are mentioned, no specific coverage percentage for community concerns is provided.

Safe & Smart Tech

Maersk uses AI, including Microsoft Copilot, guided by 'stringent AI principles' and 'responsible AI practices', with mentions of AI governance and testing/validation of AI performance and outcomes to ensure fairness and unbiased use.

The company states its AI technology functions, data used, and decisions made are open. Maersk uses encrypted data communications for sensitive data. Privacy by design and default principles are mentioned as part of Maersk's approach. Data minimization is a principle, with retention periods based on purpose and applicable law. Users have rights to access, rectify, object to, erase, restrict, and request portability of their data, as well as withdraw consent. The company states compliance with GDPR and local laws, including specific regulations in China and Turkey. However, the 2017 NotPetya attack exploited vulnerabilities in unpatched systems, leveraging the EternalBlue exploit, indicating critical vulnerabilities were left unpatched for an extended period, and a security revamp was planned but not fully implemented pre-attack.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Faerch, a subsidiary, produces products with up to 70% recycled content.

Unilabs, another subsidiary, sorts waste to minimize biohazardous waste disposal. Maersk is developing a baseline understanding of waste generation and management, and has global waste management requirements for suppliers. KK Wind Solutions engages suppliers to comply with waste reduction targets.