Message from the Chairman of the Board of Directors

At times of crisis and instability such as those we are living through, our responsibility for building a shared sustainable “home” is increasingly important. This applies equally to nations, organisations, communities and individuals. We all have a role to play in transforming our society. A positive transformation that defends the values of nature conservation and respect for Human Rights.

At The Navigator Company, we have a clear awareness of the importance of adopting high ethical standards, able to respond to the social and environmental challenges faced by the world and by businesses. This is the context in which our Company has adopted plans for decarbonisation. It is significant that, in 2021, we set ourselves science-based targets for cutting GHG emissions, by signing up to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and investing in products that substitute fossil-derived materials, such as our new gKRAFT brand of packaging papers.

By adopting a Corporate Purpose and a 2030 Responsible Management Agenda aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Company has established commitments and goals for 2030 in the three strategic action areas defined in its Agenda: Nature, Climate and Society.

This Sustainability Report provides readers with a picture of how Navigator is responding to the commitments made, setting out its performance on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria, currently regarded by the financial community and other stakeholders as a metric of the Company’s progress in the field of Sustainability.

Staying abreast of best international practice, Navigator continues to be active in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the world’s leading organisation in the area of business sustainability, where it is represented on the Executive Committee and in the Forest Solutions Group (FSG), a working group devoted to forestry topics. As a member of the WBCSD’s FSG, Navigator has worked on a number of initiatives, such as the inclusion of a case study, that illustrated the supporting document for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and preparation of a video on the topic of “Choose Sustainable Forest Products”, designed to raise awareness of the role of planted forests and forest products in the global agenda for sustainable development. In another important development, the forestry sector, led by the FSG, took the opportunity offered by COP26 to unveil its Roadmap for transition to a net-zero economy.

At home, Navigator is currently a board member of BCSD Portugal and is a signatory of the Charter of Principles, a document uniting Portuguese companies around shared commitments to sustainable development for Portugal. It is also relevant to note that, in 2021, Navigator was joint organiser and a participant in the “Acting for Nature” round table at the 2021 Annual Conference of BCSD Portugal, devoted to the topic of “Sustainability: challenges for the decade 20-30”.

This was an opportunity to promote the Company’s stance and contribution to nature and biodiversity conservation through sustainable forest management. The Navigator Company’s involvement in leading Sustainability organisations at a global level and the commitments made in its 2030 Agenda allow us to assert with confidence that we are helping to make an impact in several areas of our society, on issues of a social, environmental and economic nature alike.