Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise operator, has released its 2013 Sustainability Report detailing the company's sustainability efforts, including initiatives which it says have enabled it to meet its corporate goal to reduce its rate of CO2 emissions from shipboard operations by 20 percent – a year ahead of its initial plan.
The report was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 "core" level. A full copy can be
downloaded from Carnival's site.
To meet its corporate CO2 sustainability goal, Carnival and its nine global brands developed energy reduction and conservation initiatives, many of which are said to exceed current laws and regulations. The company's brands include Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in the U.S.; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Costa Cruises in Italy; and P&O Cruises (United Kingdom) and P&O Cruises (Australia).
As part of its air emission reduction initiatives announced in September 2013, Carnival pioneered an effort to develop exhaust gas cleaning technology, called ECO-EGC, that is said to remove pollutants from the exhaust gases at any operating condition of a ship – at sea, during maneuvering and in port. Carnival is currently installing the systems on its cruise vessels and has plans for installations on more than 70 percent of its fleet.
In addition to this initiative, Carnival and its nine brands have implemented other measures to deliver on the corporate commitment to protect the environment. Highlights include:
- Committing to invest more than $400 million to install exhaust gas cleaning technology to 70 percent of its fleet
- Introducing two new ships,
Royal Princess and
AIDAstella, which Carnival says are "among the most efficient ships at sea today, both from a unit cost and fuel efficiency standpoint".
- Investing up to $700 million into the company's ships and operations.
"At Carnival Corporation we believe that sustainability is about preserving our environment, respecting our employees and communities and returning value to our shareholders," said
Bill Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corporation. "Today's report details our progress towards both our goal to reduce emissions, and our ongoing commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen. For us, sustainability is a core part of how we conduct business. We continue to make major progress and are committed to maintaining our leadership in sustainability and setting industry standards for corporate citizenship."
In October, Carnival released the results of its multi-year
Fleet Fuel Conservation Program that by the end of 2014 is expected to have saved more than one billion gallons of fuel and reduced fleet carbon emissions by 12 billion kilograms over a seven-year period. By that time, the program will also have improved the fleet's overall fuel efficiency by 24 percent compared to 2007, while saving approximately $2.5 billion in fuel costs, the company says.
