The canal's first sustainability officer
Ilya Espino de Marotta, deputy administrator of the Panama Canal, will now also serve as the canal's first sustainability officer to spearhead the development of a comprehensive sustainability strategy focused on decarbonisation, adaptation, and related transition.
In collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, the canal operators are already finalising an inventory of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and aim to complete a climate risk assessment by the end of the year. They will also set and implement more aggressive short-, medium- and long-term targets for emissions reductions starting in fiscal year 2025.
Espino de Marotta began her career at the Panama Canal in 1985 as the only marine engineer in the industrial division shipyard, then became executive vice president of engineering, and in 2019 she assumed the role of vice president of operations. In January 2020, she was appointed deputy administrator, making history as the first woman to hold the position. (cj)