In our special column for this month, we are glad to host an interview with Mrs Lucienne Damm, Senior Environmental Manager, TUI Cruises, who enjoys working on industry’s environmental issues to find sustainable solutions but first and foremost, she finds it exciting working closely with crew onboard.
Furthermore, Lucienne highlights the urgent need to take action now and fight the climate crisis; ” we have to speed up our act to transform our businesses to a more sustainable and carbon-free industry.” she concludes.
SAFETY4SEA: How did it come about that you joined shipping industry and your field of expertise specifically?
Lucienne Damm: It was more of an incident that I came to work as Environmental Manager for TUI Cruises. 10 years ago, I worked for an NGO and I was researching air emissions in shipping. We found out, that there is still a lot of potential and I started first campaigns of ship emissions. Now, I am heading the Environmental Department at TUI Cruises and I am still working on air emissions (amongst other topics) but from a ship owners side.
S4S: What about your current job/ role most excites you and why?
L.D.: It’s the variety of topics I am dealing as Environmental Manager: from air emissions, alternative fuels, sustainable shore excursions and sustainable supply chain – diving in all these topics and working on solutions for them. But foremost, working closely with the crew onboard is amazing!
S4S: Who is/was the most influential person/mentor to you & why ?
L.D.: There were many great people in my life who gave me trust in my abilities and opportunities to proof them – my former boss at the NGO for example– for that, I am very grateful. But I think my parents where most influential to raise me as a political human being that wants to drive change and push for a change.
S4S: What is the most worthwhile career investment (in energy, time, money) you’ve ever made?
L.D.: When I had my two children and continued to work full-time after maternity leave. It was a big effort to organize both worlds with each other, but working full-time means for me to make a difference on a larger scale and being a mother means making a difference on a more personal level. Having this work-live-balance in place is my biggest accomplishment & reward for me.
S4S: In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your business life?
L.D.: The rising environmental awareness over the last couple of years helped a lot to push for more ambitious environmental regulations on political and corporate levels. This external push has accelerate the innovation development within our industry and that also improves the possibilities for us to transform our business in a sustainable manner.
S4S: What would you like to change in the current maritime landscape and your area of expertise specifically and why?
L.D.: I would really change the speed of decisions are being made on the political agenda. We know that there is only limited time left to correct the path we have been using for the last decades. But the climate crisis is not waiting for us, so we have to speed up our act to transform our businesses to a more sustainable and carbon-free industry.
The views presented are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.