In an exclusive interview to SAFETY4SEA, Kate Kwiatkowska, Head of Sustainability at NorthStandard, shares her key priorities for the Club’s sustainability agenda. She emphasizes that sustainability addresses systemic challenges that require industry-wide collaboration. Additionally, she highlights the importance of robust governance, internal education, and clear communication.
Kate stresses that significant efforts are still needed to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for the maritime industry. In this context, regulatory changes are crucial, along with a strong focus on people. Making DEI a key priority is essential to fostering an environment where individuals feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. This includes creating workplaces that promote work-life balance and mental well-being, recognizing the unique challenges faced by both seafarers and shore-based staff. As such, integrating these aspects into the ESG agenda is vital for the future of shipping.
SAFETY4SEA: What excites you most about this opportunity with NorthStandard, and what are the top sustainability priorities for the next five years?
Kate Kwiatkowska: I’m excited to join NorthStandard at a time when sustainability is increasingly becoming one of the key drivers of long-term success and resilience in the maritime sector. My focus is to accelerate real, measurable change and further embed sustainability into the very fabric of the Club – creating long-term value for our members and investing in the future. My initial priorities include setting up robust systems and controls, establishing a structured framework to prioritise impact areas, setting ambitious goals and targets, and measuring progress effectively. Sustainability addresses systemic challenges that require industry-wide collaboration, so we will also focus on engaging stakeholders and driving collective action in areas most material to our business and across our value chain.
S4S: Strong leadership is essential for advancing ESG initiatives. How can leaders foster a culture of sustainability?
K.Kw.: Fostering a culture of sustainability starts with robust governance, internal education, and clear communication. These elements empower leaders across any business to integrate sustainability into everyday decision-making, ensuring it becomes a core part of how we operate. Clarity over roles, responsibilities, and expectations is essential, providing a structured approach to sustainability while ensuring accountability at all levels. Engaging the leadership team in the process and encouraging their contributions, creates the sense of ownership needed to put sustainability at the heart of the business.
S4S: Your role involves engaging with multiple stakeholders, including members, brokers, and employees. How do you plan to foster a sustainability-driven culture across these diverse groups?
K.Kw.: Sustainability challenges cannot be addressed in isolation, making meaningful engagement a priority. As we scope and prioritise key initiatives, we will work closely with our external and internal stakeholders to ensure a collaborative and solutions-driven approach. Recognising that every shipowner is at a different stage in their sustainability journey, we will find ways to ensure the transition towards a more sustainable maritime sector is just and practical for all. This means creating opportunities for dialogue, knowledge-sharing, education and support, so that no one is left behind as the industry moves forward, building a stronger, more resilient maritime sector.
S4S: What key ESG and sustainability trends do you see shaping the future of the maritime industry?
K.Kw.: As I’m new to the sector, I’ve been exploring these trends with NorthStandard’s subject matter experts to understand the key maritime sustainability challenges and opportunities. It is clear that the industry is making progress, but significant work remains to ensure a sustainable and resilient future, with robust regulation, collaboration, investment, and practical implementation determining how successfully we navigate these changes.
Five key themes stand out from my perspective:
#1 Alternative fuels – The industry is exploring cleaner fuels such as biofuels, ammonia, methanol, and even nuclear power. While these offer potential pathways to decarbonisation, challenges around safety, infrastructure, use and cost remain.
#2 Operational efficiency – While alternative fuels are critical for long-term decarbonisation, understandably many are focused on improving the efficiency of existing fossil-fuelled vessels through operational changes, efficiency technologies, and digital tools. These efforts are essential in reducing emissions in the short to medium term. This efficiency will also be vital in the transition to new fuels given their higher cost and lower calorific value than conventional fuels.
#3 Regulatory shifts – Policies like FuelEU Maritime and the IMO’s decarbonisation strategy are setting ambitious targets. While they provide a strong direction, implementing a global regulatory framework with supporting policy to drive a practical and commercially viable transition for shipowners and operators is vital.
#4 Data and digitalisation – Advances in AI, data analytics, and automation are helping optimise fuel consumption, reduce emissions, and improve safety. The challenge is ensuring accessibility and adoption across the entire industry, particularly for smaller operators.
#5 Crew welfare and safety – The transition to alternative fuels introduces new safety risks, requiring better training and safeguards. More broadly, improving working conditions, mental well-being, and diversity is critical for a sustainable maritime workforce.
S4S: How do you anticipate regulatory changes will impact sustainability efforts in the sector?
K.Kw.: Regulatory change is essential for driving sustainability objectives, providing a clear framework for the sector to operate within and an incentive to accelerate action. Effective regulation should not only set requirements but also increase commercial viability of investment in cleaner technologies and sustainable practices, balancing the three key drivers of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic. However, to be truly impactful, regulations must be developed collaboratively, considering a wide range of perspectives, and ensuring a balanced approach that supports both sustainability goals and the commercial realities of the industry. At NorthStandard, we are focusing on helping our members navigate this evolving landscape, ensuring they are well-prepared for new requirements while also maximising opportunities that arise. We will also champion their interests at industry forums, advocating for policies that drive meaningful progress while remaining practical and achievable.
S4S: What initiatives related to diversity and inclusion would you like to see in the workplace both onboard and ashore?
K.Kw.: A truly sustainable maritime industry must be people-centric, and that means making diversity, equity, and inclusion key priorities. To build a resilient and forward-looking sector, we need to engage people from all backgrounds, creating environments, both onboard and ashore, where everyone feels valued, supported, and able to thrive. This demands inclusive hiring practices, leadership pathways for underrepresented groups, and mentorship and development programmes that support career progression. Focus on creating workplaces that support work-life balance and mental well-being, recognising the unique challenges faced by both seafarers and shore-based staff, is also key.
S4S: How can industry stakeholders collaborate more effectively to drive sustainable progress?
K.Kw.: Collaboration is essential to addressing the systemic challenges facing the maritime industry. No single organisation can solve these planet-sized issues in isolation. Progress depends on shared responsibility and collective action. To be effective, collaboration must be intentional and inclusive, bringing together diverse stakeholders: insurers, shipowners and charterers, regulators, seafarers, and their wider value chains, to align on priorities and co-develop practical solutions. This means sharing best practice, investing in joint research and innovation, and standardising sustainability reporting to improve transparency and accountability across the value chain.
S4S: What needs to change to raise the industry’s profile and attract future talent?
K.Kw.: To attract new talent, the maritime industry must modernise its image and highlight its critical role in global trade and sustainability. Shipping is the backbone of international commerce, transporting approximately 90% of global goods, according to the IMO. Shipping also is an inherently more sustainable alternative to air freight, with airplanes generating approximately 47 times the emissions per a ton of goods moved per mile, compared to cargo ships, according to MIT. The industry can position itself as progressive, purpose driven and aligned with the interests and values of future generations by showcasing its commitment to decarbonisation, digital innovation, and social responsibility, and offering clear career pathways with development opportunities. Fostering inclusive working environments that value diversity and promote work-life balance is also essential.
S4S: Looking ahead to 2050, what key message about sustainable shipping would you include in a time capsule?
K.Kw.: “Let our legacy be defined by the oceans we preserved, the people we empowered, and the choices we made. In charting a course toward sustainability, we chose collaboration over competition, progress over convenience, and responsibility over indifference. The future of shipping is sustainable, because we made it so.”
The views presented are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
