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"It's What We Do"

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Aker BioMarine discusses SDGs at Sustainable Brands Copenhagen.

 

September 23, 2016 – Gearing up for Sustainable Brands Copenhagen, September 26-28, Cilia Holmes Indahl, Director Sustainability at Aker BioMarine will be taking the stage at a session focused on adopting and aligning the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with brand strategy, product and service innovation, and corporate sustainability goal-setting.

Entering the krill harvesting market in 2003, Aker BioMarine immediately broke the norm. Its desire for strict regulations to safeguard the environment, investment in ecosystem research, and the building of strong alliances with NGOs was something out of the ordinary for a commercial fishery.

Indahl explains, “Before deploying our very first net in the ocean we approached the WWF, opening a dialogue essentially asking ‘how can we fish for krill sustainably?’ We have kept in dialogue ever since, and have developed a strong partnership to help guide our efforts on sustainability.”

Assisting in the negotiations of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prior to joining Aker BioMarine, Indahl is a fervent advocate of the UN’s initiative. She believes the SDGs alone will not build best practice example, but that they will bring out the strengths in how a company works to solve global challenges.

“Aker BioMarine already set a good example before I and the SDGs came along; it was more a matter of sowing it all together. Taking care of the oceans and contributing to greater health in the marketplace has always been a part of how we do business. The global agenda on sustainable development justified the way we had been working, by providing us with goals — goal #2 addresses hunger, goal #3 pertains to good health, goal #14 is all about ocean conservation, and goal #12 relates to responsible production.”

Indahl concludes: “This is what we do, and we would have continued doing it without the SDGs, but they have helped us bring it all together, making it easier to articulate and integrate into our corporate strategy”

Leading the Pack


Aker BioMarine’s hard-nosed pursuit of sustainability has not gone unnoticed. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is the most respected certifying organization known for its rigorous assessment process and credible standards for sustainable fishing and seafood traceability. Aker BioMarine’s krill fishery was first certified as sustainable and 100% traceable in 2010 and was recently endorsed by MSC for an additional five-year period (2015-2020).

In addition, for the second year in a row, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) in its annual sustainability overview of reduction fisheries, gave Aker BioMarine an “A” rating, making it the only reduction fishery to receive this grade.

Commenting on the company’s sustainability rating, Indahl highlights the real need for industry co-operation. Taking real responsibility for their Antarctic workplace, irrespective of commercial rivalries Aker BioMarine has consistently shared their expertise to the benefit of the fishery as a whole.


“We are a company that is of course interested in continuing to fish, but we are also sharing our data to help ensure the krill fishery remains healthy and abundant.”


Indahl views the company’s all hands on deck approach to sustainability as, first and foremost, an essential act of self-preservation.

“The financial markets, or the capital if you will, is actually increasingly reacting to the climate risks that a lot of companies are facing and not taking into account. So ensuring you have a sustainable business model means you’re protecting your business for the future. Sustainability has become a business necessity,” Indahl adds.

 


For more information or an interview opportunity please contact:

Katrin Berntsen
Director Communication
Ph: +47 92054570
katrin.berntsen@akerbiomarine.com

About Cilia Holmes Indahl

Cilia Holmes Indahl is an expert on business model innovation for sustainability and business implementation of the SDGs.

She served as a youth delegate to the UN Rio+20 Conference where the SDGs first were agreed to, and she was later appointed to the Norwegian delegation in New York to assist in the negotiations of the SDGs.

Today, she heads up sustainability at Aker BioMarine, a global fishery and biotech company committed to improving global health and the eco-efficiency of food systems. She also sits in the board of the Nordic Incubator for Social Innovation, SoCentral, and in the Advisory board of several startups.

Before joining Aker BioMarine, Indahl worked as an advisor for KPMGs Climate Change and Sustainability Services.

Indahl first joined the Sustainable Brands community in 2013, conducting 20+ interviews for her thesis with community members and experts. Her thesis included a cross-case analysis of over 400 business model innovations for sustainability depicting innovation trends and patterns. Her intention was to hack sustainable business and use the key learnings to boost the sustainability transition of business and society.

To spread the message she gives talks and writes about sustainable business and behavior in the belief that we can have more from less www.ciliaindahl.com

 

About Aker BioMarine

Aker BioMarine is a leading supplier of krill-derived products to the consumer health and wellness and animal nutrition markets. Aker BioMarine is dedicated to the sustainable harvest of krill and development of krill-derived products. The company supplies biomarine ingredients through a 100% traceable supply chain that it also owns and controls. Aker BioMarine was the first krill company to be awarded Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.