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KLU Talks Business ... with Sophie Drakopoulos

Sustainability Manager: it’s an important and increasingly in-demand job at the nexus of science and business, possibility and impossibility, theory and practice. Sophie Drakopoulos, Sustainability Manager at DB Schenker and participant in the Sustainability Management program (SuMO), gives us an inside look at her fascinating line of work.

What exactly does your job as DB Schenker’s Sustainability Manager entail?

Sophie Drakopoulos: With around 76,600 employees in more than 130 countries, DB Schenker is one of the world’s leading logistics providers. The company operates land, air, and ocean transportation services, and it also single-sources comprehensive logistics and global supply chain management solutions. My home is the business unit Global Ocean Freight, where I take care of all things sustainability. This starts with reporting, keeping an eye on industry-specific regulations and their consequences, and extends to customer solutions for reducing carbon footprints. We’re already able to offer our customers solutions for reducing their emissions from ocean freight transport. In my work, I collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders.

What excites you? What are some challenges you’ve experienced?

Drakopoulos: Precisely this combination of ocean freight and sustainability is what I find really interesting. Global ocean freight as a mode of intercontinental transport is super exciting on its own. Without it, our everyday life would look very different simply because most goods are transported by sea. It is therefore the unquestioned backbone of our global economy. Many became aware of this during the COVID-19 pandemic at the latest and with the Suez Canal incident, when supply chains suddenly no longer functioned as smoothly as before. In terms of sustainability, we can say that ocean freight is fortunately the most environmentally friendly mode of transport compared to other modes. In absolute terms, however, ocean freight still generates a lot of greenhouse gases every year because container ships still predominantly run on fossil fuels such as heavy oil, diesel, and LNG – and therefore continuously produce new emissions. This has to change because in the future more goods will tend to be transported by ocean freight rather than less. Things are happening here at a regulatory level, but demand is also increasing pressure for transformation, and both are good and very much needed. Because if there's one thing we don't have it's too much time, and that's probably the greatest challenge in the big picture. Achieving this goal will require cross-industry collaboration and a proactive approach. Fortunately, I see both in my work every day.

The SuMO program – you’re one of our first graduates. What were your expectations and have they been fulfilled thus far?

Drakopoulos: I think it's great that the SuMO program exists. For me it combines two topics at KLU that are so close to my heart and on my mind: logistics and sustainability, but from an academic perspective. Even though I already do a lot of cross-industry work, I wanted to examine my day-to-day issues from a different perspective and to better understand their background from a purely technical point of view. It does this, but I am also very aware of the opportunity KLU gives me and I use it accordingly. There’s no question that I don't ask. The teachers at KLU provide the space and time for asking all of our questions, and if necessary, call in the experts to find all the answers. We are the program's first cohort, and I’m sure the program will not decline in importance. The need to focus on sustainability will by no means diminish, it will only become more pressing.

KLU in three words.

Drakopoulos: logistics, Hamburg, personal