Port of Rotterdam Authority, Sustainability Reporting and Stakeholder Transparency
The Port of Rotterdam Authority publishes an integrated annual report with an ESG section providing transparency on environmental performance, social initiatives, governance practices, and progress toward sustainability targets (Port of Rotterdam Authority, 2026). The 2025 annual report includes a double materiality analysis, which the Port Authority carries out voluntarily because it is not yet required to comply with the CSRD.
The sustainability chapter covers climate mitigation and adaptation, air, soil, water quality, nature and biodiversity, and the EU Taxonomy; occupational safety and supply chain responsibility; and port-specific topics such as undermining crime, nautical safety and resilience. The report includes GRI and ESRS indexes (Port of Rotterdam Authority, 2026).
An independent firm carries out a stakeholder survey, intended every two years (none was held in 2022); in 2024 stakeholders rated the Port Authority 7.7, up from 7.2 in 2020 (Port of Rotterdam Authority, 2026). A study in the WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs examined what port stakeholders expect to be visible and verifiable in port governance reporting (Brooks et al., 2021).
Transferability
For DMC ports, Port of Rotterdam demonstrates transparency integrating corporate sustainability reporting and ongoing stakeholder communication. Transferable elements include, among others, voluntary use of the CSRD double materiality approach before it is mandatory, ESG reporting integrated into the annual report, and regular independent stakeholder surveys.
Sources
All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.
- Port of Rotterdam Authority. 2026. Annual Report 2025. Rotterdam: Port of Rotterdam Authority. Published 12 March 2026 (Dutch online report). (opens in new tab)
- Brooks, M.R., Knatz, G., Pallis, A.A. and Wilmsmeier, G. 2021. Visibility and verifiability in port governance transparency: exploring stakeholder expectations. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs 20(4): 435-455. (opens in new tab)