MIAMI, Aug. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest leisure travel company, today released its 2015
sustainability report detailing the progress made in 2015
against its 2020 sustainability performance goals. The report's
details show the company is on track to meet its goals in the next
four years, with sustainability efforts highlighted across its 10
cruise line brands. The report was prepared in accordance with the
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 "core" level, and a full copy
can be downloaded from Carnival Corporation's site.
In 2015, Carnival Corporation announced 10 goals for reducing
its environmental footprint, while enhancing the health, safety and
security of its guests and crew members, and ensuring sustainable
business practices among its brands, business partners and
suppliers. As part of the effort to achieve these goals, the
company and its 10 global brands have implemented strategic energy
reduction and conservation initiatives. The most notable
progress made against these 10 goals to date, as outlined in the
infographic here, includes:
- Reduced the company's carbon intensity rate by 2.8 percent
resulting in a 23.4 percent overall carbon dioxide emission
reduction relative to the 2005 baseline
- Equipped 41 percent of fleet with exhaust gas cleaning
technology to reduce sulfur compounds and particulate matter from
engine exhaust
- Improved the company's carbon footprint with order of world's
first liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered cruise ships, as well as
the first cruise ship to be powered by an LNG hybrid barge
- On track to meet the 10 percentage point increase in fleet-wide
capacity coverage of advanced waste water purification systems
(AWWPS)
"We know it is increasingly important to have sustainable and
transparent operations, so we work hard every day to run our
company in a sustainable way, and to share those practices broadly,
so that our guests can feel confident that they are making a
responsible decision when they book a vacation with us," said
Bill Burke, chief maritime officer
for Carnival Corporation. "We are committed to providing a safe and
comfortable voyage for our guests and crew members as our cruise
line brands create great vacations, while at the same time
maintaining our deep commitment to protecting the oceans, seas and
destinations we visit."
Carnival Corporation's Commitment to Sustainability
Carnival Corporation and its brands implement extensive measures to
deliver on its commitment to continue to keep guests and
crewmembers safe and comfortable, protect the environment, develop
and provide opportunities for its workforce, strengthen its
stakeholder relations and enhance the communities in which the
company visits and operates. Those measures are detailed in the
company's 2015 sustainability report in three key areas – cruising,
commitment and community.
Cruising
In 2015, Carnival Corporation
introduced its 10th and newest brand, Fathom, which is
pioneering a new travel category, social impact travel, which
combines people's love for travel with their desire to make a
difference in the world. Later in the year, Carnival Corporation
made history with its Fathom brand by receiving U.S. approval to
sail to Cuba, laying the
groundwork for it to become the first cruise company in over 40
years to sail from the U.S. to Cuba in May of 2016.
Commitment
In 2015, Carnival Corporation made
progress toward its focus on maintaining measured capacity growth
with the delivery of innovative, more efficient ships for its fleet
by finalizing agreements for 15 new ships for delivery between 2016
and 2020 – four of which will be next-generation ships that will
pioneer a new era in the use of cleaner fuels as the first cruise
ships to be powered by LNG both at sea and in port. The
introduction of LNG – the world's cleanest burning fossil fuel – is
a major step for the corporation in reducing its carbon footprint
from the reduced carbon and cleaner emissions of LNG. In 2015,
AIDAsol from the company's AIDA Cruises' German-based brand
was the first cruise ship in the world to be supplied with power by
an LNG hybrid barge while in port.
Other strides Carnival Corporation made in 2015 to deliver on
its commitment to its guests, crew, stakeholders and the
environment include:
- Actively undertaking shipbuilding research and development for
new abatement technologies and equipment to improve energy
efficiency including: air lubrication systems using air bubbles to
reduce friction between the ship's hull and the water; exhaust gas
cleaning systems (EGCS); and alternative fuels like the
industry-first use of LNG as the world's cleanest burning fossil
fuel
- Working with suppliers on expanding its sourcing of cage free
eggs to 100 percent by 2025
- Expanding tour operator sustainable practices
Community
Another key milestone for the
company in 2015 was the opening of its newest port and Caribbean destination, Amber Cove, located in the Dominican Republic. The new destination
represents Carnival Corporation's single largest direct port
development project with an $85
million investment to date, the largest cruise industry
investment ever made in the Dominican
Republic. As a part of Carnival Corporation's commitment to
the region, its Fathom brand also announced in 2015 that it would
be making trips every other week to the area to enrich the lives of
its travelers as they work alongside the locals, assisting them in
improving the quality of their lives.
Carnival Corporation reinforced its leadership position in the
China cruise region with the
successful introduction of a fourth ship in 2015 – Costa
Serena from its Costa Cruises brand. The company also announced
in 2015 that it would introduce two more year-round ships – one
each from Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises – making it the first
cruise company with six ships based in China, maintaining its industry leadership in
the country. Carnival Corporation also formed a strategic joint
venture by partnering with state-owned China State Shipbuilding
Corporation and China Investment Corporation to launch a new cruise
brand in the Chinese vacation region.
Other strides Carnival Corporation made in 2015 to deliver on
its commitment to the communities in which it operates include:
- Donating $5 million to Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Miami to
create the Carnival Center for Excellence that will serve as the
headquarters for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami
- Donating reusable goods such as furniture, kitchenware,
toiletries and other items from its ships to people in need
throughout the communities it visits
- Providing in-kind donation of cruises totaling over
$2 million in 2015
Partnering with The Nature Conservancy to Advance Ocean
Health
In 2015, Carnival Corporation continued its
partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), one of the world's
leading conservation organizations, with a $2.5 million financial commitment over a
five-year period, starting in 2014.
Carnival Corporation's partnership with TNC supports the
organization's Mapping Ocean Wealth (MOW) program that creates maps
showing the extent and distribution of benefits that habitats like
coral reefs and mangroves provide, including fish production, flood
mitigation, erosion control and recreation. Progress made in 2015
with the help of Carnival Corporation's donation include:
- Generating new knowledge about coral reef conditions,
comparisons of nature-based and artificial defenses, innovative
financing and other important topics
- Publishing groundbreaking research on fish production
associated with oyster reefs
- Pioneering innovative methods, such as using social media to
measure tourism activities, natural resources available,
distribution, intensity of use and user satisfaction through the
work being performed on the development of a global map of mangrove
tourism
- Developing an online web mapping tool allowing users to view
and download models and maps of ocean benefits associated with
coral reefs, mangroves and other critical coastal systems
More information about Carnival Corporation's sustainability
efforts and the full versions of its past sustainability reports
can be found here.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest leisure travel
company in the world, with a portfolio of 10 cruise brands
in North
America, Europe, Australia and Asia comprised
of Carnival Cruise Line, Fathom, Holland America
Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA
Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O
Cruises (Australia)
and P&O Cruises (UK).
Together, these brands operate 101 ships visiting over 700 ports
around the world and totaling 225,000 lower berths with 15 new
ships scheduled to be delivered between 2016 and
2020. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates
Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies
in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both
the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival
Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be
included in both the S&P500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
Additional information can be found on www.carnivalcorp.com,
www.carnival.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com,
www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com,
www.pocruises.com.au, www.pocruises.com and www.fathom.org.
Photo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160803/395557-INFO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnival-corporation-issues-2015-sustainability-report-continues-strong-commitment-to-environment-and-safety-300309060.html
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc