Carnival Corporation & plc has been named 'Best Marine Solutions Company' in this year's Clean Tech Awards by The New Economy.
The Clean Tech Awards are given out by The New Economy, a quarterly publication whose goal is to engender financial investment and encourage discussion and debate of appropriate strategies for the promotion of global economic growth. The award winners demonstrated a commitment to producing clean technology to improve the environment in 2013.
Carnival has a long tradition of making environmental sustainability and clean technology a corporate priority. This includes initiatives such as developing exhaust gas cleaning technology – known as 'scrubbers' - on a number of ships to reduce the amount of air emissions from using high sulphur fuel. The scrubbers, which will be on 17 Carnival Cruise Line ships, nine Holland America Line ships, seven Princess Cruises ships and Cunard's Queen Mary 2 by 2016, will meet and exceed the new regulations. AIDA Cruises has also announced a 100 million euro investment to protect the environment, particularly to install the scrubber technology.
"This technology is an accomplishment as well as an important milestone for our company," said Carnival Corporation CEO
Arnold Donald. "Working together with the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard and Transport Canada, we have developed a breakthrough solution for cleaner air that will set a new course in environmental protection for years to come."
Other initiatives include Carnival's goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 percent in 2015 from its baseline 2005 level. From 2005 to 2012, Carnival has reduced its emission rate by 16.7 percent, including a three percent decrease between 2011 and 2012. Carnival has installed water treatment plants on nearly half of its entire fleet of ships, and plans to install advanced versions of the treatment plants on new ship builds and will continually upgrade existing ones. It is Carnival's corporate policy to never discharge untreated sewage, despite maritime law allowing it in specific instances.
"In the cruise industry, and truly for all industries, environmental responsibility is essential to running a successful business in the 21st century," said Carnival Corporation VP of Management Systems
James Van Langen. "We are very proud of this award and we will continue to maintain our focus on achieving environmental excellence and promoting clean technology."
The New Economy has been giving out awards since 2011. The New Economy Awards section of the magazine seeks to recognize those industry leaders who have set out to establish progress – rather than rely on the status quo. The research body investigates firms across the world in order to garner an understanding of the texture and thread of commercial markets.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).
Together, these brands operate 101 ships totaling 208,000 lower berths with eight new ships scheduled to be delivered between the spring 2014 and the autumn of 2016. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.
