Miami-based cruise ship major Carnival Corporation is on track to meet its 2020 sustainability goals across its nine global cruise line brands, according to the company’s ninth annual sustainability report.
Carnival Corporation first shared its 2020 sustainability goals in 2015, identifying 10 key objectives, including reducing its carbon footprint, improving ships’ air emissions, reducing waste generation, improving water use efficiency, and supporting guests, crew members and local communities.
The company said it achieved the 25% carbon reduction goal three years ahead of schedule in 2017 and made additional progress on that goal in 2018.
The latest sustainability report shows that, by the end of 2018, the company’s carbon footprint was reduced by 27.6% relative to 2005 baseline. Additionally, 74% of Carnival Corp’s fleet is equipped with Advanced Air Quality Systems, capable of removing virtually all of the sulfur from ships’ engine exhaust, enabling cleaner overall air emissions at port and at sea without impacting the marine environment, the company explained.
Further improvements include advancements in cold ironing, as 46% of the company’s fleet is equipped with capability to use shoreside electric power while the ship is docked, and increased coverage of Advanced Waste Water Purification Systems fleet-wide by 8.6 percentage points from 2014 baseline. Other points are improvements in waste reduction and water efficiency.
As part of its ongoing strategy to reduce carbon emissions, Carnival Corporation introduced in December 2018 the world’s first cruise ship able to be powered in port and at sea by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel.
“Looking to the future, the company continues to chart its sustainability journey, using the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to develop a new set of goals for 2030 to constantly improve environmental management, energy efficiency, health, safety and well-being objectives.”
“We take our commitment to sustainability and the environment very seriously,” Bill Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corporation, said.