CPKC Issues 2022 Sustainability Data Report

CPKC (William C. Vantuono Photograph)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) on June 23 published its first Sustainability Data Report highlighting developments from 2022 for Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS), which on April 14 merged to become CPKC, the first single-line, transnational railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

The 57-page report (download below) was developed with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative Standards and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board–Rail Transportation Framework, CPKC said.

The report includes:

• 2022 sustainability information and performance data for CP and KCS—from Board of Directors and workforce composition to operational and performance metrics, safety, energy efficiency and emissions, and community investment.

• Insights into CPKC’s approach to the integration of CP and KCS, from an environmental, social and governance perspective. CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel noted in the report that the “recent launch of our Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) Series premium intermodal service is one example of how CPKC is already changing the market. As the only dedicated intermodal trains operating daily between the U.S. Midwest and Mexico, the MMX Series provides the fastest transit times in the rail industry with seamless, expanded reach to more markets. The MMX is also the continent’s first regular single-line rail service offering for refrigerated shippers from the Midwest to Mexico, which is currently served by trucks. We believe this represents the meaningful progress on one of our first ESG-related goals for the CPKC combination, which is to divert long-haul truck shipments to rail thus lowering GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions and promoting safer highways.” Creel explained that the railroad is “focused on harmonizing our approach to sustainability issues across CPKC’s operations. This work involves carefully reviewing and adapting the two legacy companies’ respective policies, practices and sustainability priorities to ensure consistency, while also integrating our sustainability data collection and management systems. There is still a lot of work ahead, but these efforts will give us an opportunity to continue to integrate sustainability into how we build our business for the future. We’re also benefiting from a history of sustainability practices and expertise within both legacy companies.”

• An overview of sustainability governance at CPKC. “[G]ood corporate governance practices are essential to effective management, the protection of our organization and to earning the trust of our stakeholders,” according to CPKC’s report. “We foster a culture of integrity through robust policies, operating standards, and training to establish expectations for ethical business conduct, high business standards, integrity and respect—from the board to our employees.” Additionally, the report pointed out that in 2022, CP “became the first freight rail company in North America to participate in the UNGC, a voluntary initiative encouraging businesses around the world to adopt responsible business practices,” and CPKC “remains committed to participation in the UNGC and upholding and annually reporting progress on 10 Principles in the areas of human rights, environment, labor and anti-corruption, and to acting on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.” Also in 2022, CP and KCS “continued to work toward enhancing their cybersecurity systems and practices with tools that continually monitor perimeter defenses for vulnerabilities, automatically block malicious or atypical behavior and scrutinize account usage to detect unusual behavior.” Security training and awareness “continue to be a hallmark of our cyber program,” the railroad noted in the report.

• CPKC’s commitment to climate action. This commitment, announced June 8, includes “a science-based GHG emissions reduction target for CPKC’s locomotive operations for 2030 and a commitment to develop a CPKC emissions reduction target aligned with a 1.5˚C future within the next two years,” Keith Creel noted in the report. “These commitments will guide CPKC’s approach to climate change. They also complement the actions CP has already been taking, including expanding our industry-leading Hydrogen Locomotive Program, maintaining an ongoing focus on enhancing fuel efficiency and supporting the advancement of lower carbon fuels and emerging technologies to contribute to further decarbonization in our operations.” (In a related development, CPKC and CSX on June 22 reported a planned joint venture for the building and development of hydrogen locomotive conversion kits for diesel electric locomotives.) Creel also pointed out that the merged railroad has a new carbon emissions calculator to provide estimates of the GHG emissions of freight by CPKC rail transportation along the combined CPKC rail network. “With this tool, our customers have the ability to estimate the GHG emission reductions they may potentially achieve using CPKC’s rail services compared to long-haul trucking alternatives,” he reported.

“Operating sustainably is imperative to CPKC’s future growth and long-term success,” Keith Creel said June 23 when the report was released. “This initial CPKC sustainability data report continues our long-standing practice of transparent sustainability and ESG disclosures. We’re focused on harmonizing our approach to sustainability issues across CPKC and benefiting from a history of sustainability practices and expertise within both legacy companies.”