Sustainability report 2003 

This is the third year we have reported on our commitment to sustainable development. The sustainability report provides our most important tool for overall reporting on and follow-up of our objectives in this area.

How are we to meet our targets and create trust?

Openness is a central requirement. Only through open dialogue with our stakeholders can we obtain the reactions and feedback needed from the world at large to support our own learning and improvement. The Horton affair in 2003 reminds us of the potential for damage if we fail in our efforts to be open and observe our own ethical guidelines. The consequences accepted by Statoil show that this affair was taken very seriously, however, and I am convinced that trust in us will soon be restored.

We place great emphasis on building a strong health, safety and environmental culture. After many years of commitment to improving safety through the application of technology and procedures, our attention is shifting to a greater extent towards the way people behave. The safe behaviour programme we have launched covers no less than 18 000 of our own employees and contract personnel. In addition to safe behaviour, key goals in this drive are open dialogue and concern for each other.

Continuous and purposeful work has been pursued to meet environmental challenges. Our approach has been expertise-based, and the results are encouraging. We rank today as a world leader in reducing carbon dioxide emissions per unit produced, and our development and application of new environmental technology has won international recognition. In the summer of 2003, we began using the world’s first two gas-fuelled supply ships. These cut nitrogen oxide emissions by about 90 per cent compared with diesel-powered vessels.

We aim to promote and observe human rights in all our activities. Ambitious internationalisation goals make this issue particularly important for us. We have experience of project developments and impact assessments, and have adopted good systems for union-management collaboration. Important steps were taken in 2003 to establish guidelines and measures better suited to our international ambitions, and this work will continue with undiminished vigour in 2004.

Our desire to contribute to sustainable development is founded on a moral obligation. Principles go hand-in-hand with commercial interests. Active adjustment of our business to the external challenges we face reduces risk, enhances our reputation and improves profitability. So we will be stepping up our efforts in every part of the triple bottom line, with trust as the goal – and with openness as a key tool.