MIAMI, Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest cruise company, today released its 10th
annual sustainability report, developed in accordance to the high
standards of the Global Reporting Initiative. Titled
"Sustainability from Ship to Shore," the report is available on the
company's newly redesigned sustainability website at
www.CarnivalSustainability.com.
In 2019, Carnival Corporation achieved the remaining targets
within its 2020 sustainability goals and established new goals as
part of its initial 2030 sustainability goals, including a
commitment to reduce the rate of carbon emissions by 40%, which
aligns with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
requirements in alignment with the Paris Agreement and in support
of the United Nations Agenda 2030.
"At the core of our company-wide sustainability efforts are our
top priorities as a corporation, which are compliance,
environmental protection, and the health, safety and well-being of
our guests, the communities we visit and our crew," said Bill
Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corporation. "The annual
sustainability report is critical to providing our stakeholders
with a transparent view of our progress against key metrics and
demonstrating our commitment to protecting the environment,
supporting communities and being compliant everywhere we operate in
the world. As we look toward the future, we will continue to
innovate and invest in sustainable initiatives to support
compliance and sustainable tourism."
Carnival Corporation first shared its 2020 sustainability goals
in 2015, identifying 10 key objectives, including reducing its
carbon footprint, improving the fleet's air emissions, reducing
waste generation, improving water use efficiency, and supporting
guests, crew members and local communities. The company's latest
sustainability report details progress made in 2019 to achieve
and surpass those goals, while defining an initial set of
sustainability commitments beyond 2020. The progress includes:
- Carbon Footprint: Achieved 29.1% reduction in
CO2e intensity relative to 2005 baseline, which is
additional progress on top of reaching the original goal of 25%
reduction in carbon intensity in 2017; additionally, the company
committed to a new goal of 40% reduction in its rate of carbon
emissions by 2030 relative to 2008 baseline.
- Advanced Air Quality Systems: As of the end of 2019, 77%
of the fleet was equipped with Advanced Air Quality Systems,
capable of removing nearly all sulfur from exhaust, enabling
cleaner air emissions at port and at sea with no negative impact to
the marine environment.
- Cold Ironing: At the end of 2019, 47 of the company's
ships featured the ability to use shoreside electric power while
docked, with the ships able to connect at 12 global cruise ports
equipped with the technology, further reducing air emissions in
ports where this option is available.
- Advanced Waste Water Treatment Systems: Reached initial
goal by achieving a 10.3 percentage points increase in coverage of
fleetwide capacity relative to 2014 baseline.
- Waste Reduction: Reached initial goal by achieving a
5.6% reduction in waste rate relative to 2016 baseline and
committed to a new food waste reduction goal of 10% across the
fleet by the end of 2021. The company also committed to a new goal
to reduce all non-essential single-use items and plastics on board
by 50% by the end of 2021.
- Water Efficiency: Surpassed goal by achieving an 8.7%
reduction relative to 2010 baseline and further improved water
efficiency by supplying 82% of water needs from the ocean,
purchasing only 18% of the water needed onboard ships at designated
ports.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CARNIVAL CORPORATION 2019
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
Pathway to Decarbonization
Carnival Corporation is
committed to addressing climate change and continuing to lead the
pathway to decarbonization within the cruise industry. As part of
this commitment, decarbonization efforts in 2019 included:
- Carbon Emission Goal: The company made further progress
on its 2020 carbon reduction goal first achieved three years ahead
of schedule in 2017, and committed to a new goal of 40% reduction
in the intensity of CO2e emissions by 2030.
- Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): The company continued to
pioneer the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the cruise
industry by introducing the second LNG-powered ship for its global
fleet, Costa Smeralda, which joined AIDAnova as the first cruise
vessels in the world to be powered by LNG. As the marine
industry's most advanced fuel technology, LNG has a lower carbon
emission profile, eliminates sulfur and significantly improves
overall air emissions.
- Advanced Air Quality Systems: Carnival Corporation
continued the installation and retrofitting of its global fleet
with Advanced Air Quality Systems, which remove nearly all sulfur
from ships' engine exhaust, reducing particulates and nitrogen
oxides, with over 77% of the company's fleet equipped.
- Fuel Cell Technologies: Carnival Corporation announced a
joint venture project to develop a decentralized energy network and
a hybrid energy system with a new generation of fuel cells for use
in oceangoing passenger vessels. Scheduled for 2021, AIDA Cruises
will be the world's first cruise company to test the use of fuel
cells to cut carbon emissions on a large passenger ship.
- Battery Systems: The company's AIDA Cruises brand signed
an agreement with Corvus Energy, the world's leading marine battery
supplier, for the production and installation of a
first-of-its-kind lithium-ion battery storage system on a cruise
ship that can power the ship's propulsion and operation for limited
periods of time, expected to begin in 2021.
- Getting to Zero Coalition: Carnival Corporation became
the first cruise company to join the Getting to Zero Coalition, an
alliance of organizations across the maritime, energy,
infrastructure and finance sectors committed to accelerating the
decarbonization of the international shipping industry.
Operation Oceans Alive
In its second year, Operation
Oceans Alive – Carnival Corporation's environmental stewardship
program – continued to expand through new programs and procedural
changes, commitments, and educational and training channels.
Initiatives and efforts in 2019 included:
- Reducing Single-Use Plastics: Carnival Corporation
committed to significantly reducing all non-essential single-use
items, including plastics, on board its ships by 50% by the end of
2021. By the end of 2019, the company reduced the sourcing of
approximately 80 million plastic items and approximately 95 million
other single-use items, including straws, cups, lids, stir sticks,
cocktail picks, toothpicks, butter foils and plastic shopping bags,
which have since been eliminated or replaced with sustainable
alternatives wherever possible.
- Food Waste Reduction: The company committed to reducing
food waste across its entire fleet by 10% by the end of 2021 and is
working on solutions to revise existing practices and develop new
food waste management systems on board.
- Bio-Digester Technology: Carnival Corporation continued
to evaluate technologies and operations to minimize the volume of
food waste generated on board its ships by installing additional
bio-digesters throughout the fleet, which efficiently break down
food waste, significantly enhancing the ability to efficiently
manage food waste on board.
- Environmental Training: The company announced a
partnership with the University of West
Florida (UWF) to enhance its fleetwide environmental officer
training program with the launch of an innovative and interactive
Environmental Excellence course that consists of a virtual 23-day
voyage. Participants of varying experience levels work together in
small cross-brand teams to enhance communication, collaboration and
leadership skills by solving real-world challenges.
Commitment to Compliance
In 2019, Carnival Corporation
focused on enhancing its compliance framework by developing a
dedicated ethics and compliance program and corresponding strategic
plan. Through this, the company significantly increased the
resources devoted to its compliance function. Key highlights from
2019 include:
- Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer: In August 2019, Pete
Anderson joined Carnival Corporation as chief ethics and
compliance officer. In this newly created role, Anderson directs
strategy for and drives a culture of compliance and integrity to
adhere to legal and statutory requirements, company policies and
the highest ethical principles. He also leads the effort to develop
a well-resourced, effective and well-integrated compliance program
that is built upon compliance risk, innovative compliance training,
robust investigations, open communications and continuous
improvement.
- Compliance Committees: To further heighten the focus on
ethics and compliance, the Boards of Directors established the
compliance committees to oversee the ethics and compliance program,
maintain regular communications with the chief ethics and
compliance officer, and ensure implementation of the ethics and
compliance program's strategic plan across the corporation.
Community Support & Engagement
Carnival
Corporation continued its commitment to the vitality and
sustainability of communities, both in home ports and in the
destinations that its ships regularly visit throughout the world.
In 2019, the company continued to engage in initiatives and
partnerships that support and sponsor a broad range of
organizations for the benefit of local and global communities
including:
- Disaster Relief: Carnival Corporation pledged up to
$2 million in funding and in-kind
support for relief efforts and partnered with Tropical Shipping to
collect and deliver an estimated 10 million pounds of donated food
and supplies for The Bahamas
following Hurricane Dorian. The company also signed a memorandum of
understanding with the government of The Bahamas to rebuild Rand Memorial Hospital, the
primary hospital in Freeport, Grand
Bahama Island, which sustained significant damage from
Hurricane Dorian.
- Destination Development: In the aftermath of Hurricane
Dorian, Carnival Corporation signed an agreement with the
government of The Bahamas to build
two major port developments including a new cruise port destination
primarily for Carnival Cruise Line on Grand Bahama, and construction of a new
addition, including a pier, on the Bahamian island of Little San
Salvador, home to Holland America Line's Half Moon Cay port.
- Soap Initiative: Carnival Corporation's Carnival Cruise
Line brand partnered with Clean the World and Soap Aid,
organizations that recycle hotel soap and hotel amenities.
Together, Carnival Cruise Line and its soap recycling partners will
globally distribute more than 400,000 recycled, clean bars of soap
to people in need.
- Sahara Forest Project: The company's Costa Crociere
Foundation joined forces with the Sahara Forest Project Foundation
to enlarge the Norwegian nonprofit's scope to revegetate the desert
in Jordan with sustainable
technologies and to promote social and environmental improvement
within the region. The project focuses on combining
saltwater-cooled greenhouses, solar energy panels and different
techniques for outdoor revegetation in dry areas.
Diversity & Inclusion
Carnival Corporation
continues to build a diverse and inclusive workforce and provides
all employees with a positive work environment and opportunities to
build a rewarding career to further drive employee engagement.
Diversity and inclusion efforts and accomplishments in 2019
include:
- Recognitions: The company earned a perfect score of 100
for the third consecutive year from the Human Rights Campaign
Foundation, the leading LGBTQ civil rights organization in the
U.S., and was designated a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
The company was also recognized by Newsweek on its inaugural
list of America's Most Responsible Companies, in addition to
recognitions from Forbes as one of America's Best Large
Employers and Best Employers for Diversity, and from Corporate
Responsibility Magazine as one of 100 Best Corporate Citizens
for 2019.
- Catalyst: Carnival Corporation continues to work with
Catalyst, a leading U.S. nonprofit with a mission to expand
opportunities for women.
- Sensory Inclusion: In 2019, Carnival Cruise Line
expanded its commitment to making a cruise vacation more accessible
for everyone when the brand became the first cruise operator to be
certified "sensory inclusive" by KultureCity, a leading nonprofit
organization dedicated to accessibility and inclusion for
individuals with sensory needs and invisible disabilities.
- Value 500: Carnival Corporation's Carnival UK became a
Value 500 member, an organization committed to putting disability
and inclusion on the business agenda.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is one of the world's largest
leisure travel companies with a portfolio of nine of the world's
leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise
Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O
Cruises (Australia), Costa
Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com,
www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com,
www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de,
www.pocruises.com and www.cunard.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc