Carnival Corporation’s sustainability goal is “continuous improvement”, said chief executive Arnold Donald, as he insisted a 1% reduction in carbon emissions was “a big step in the right direction”.
Donald told a Travel Weekly webcast that Carnival Corp’s absolute carbon emissions were lower today compared with 2011 despite a 45% hike in capacity across the company’s fleet.
He said this represented “great progress” and stressed the firm – which operates nine brands, including P&O Cruises and Cunard – would continue to invest in green technologies.
“The goal is continuous improvement,” he said. “A 1% reduction is a big step in the right direction. [Our] absolute carbon emissions are lower today with a 45% capacity [increase].”
He outlined how a “large portion” of Carnival Corp’s fleet were shore power-enabled and could plug into a country’s national grid rather than burning fuel while docked.
According to Donald, around 21 ports across the globe have shoreside power facilities that allow ships to plug in.
Around 50% of the power is obtained from “friendly sources” such as wind, solar, hydro or even nuclear, he added.
The company was “committed” to achieving a 40% carbon emissions reduction by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
By 2023, Carnival Corp’s fleet will feature six ships powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Donald added.
Asked where Carnival Corp felt the demand to be more sustainable was coming from, either customers or shareholders, Donald said customers would call for cruise lines to be less impactful on the environment in time.
“I don’t see enough people making the decisions based on relative efficiency or zero emissions,” he said. “You don’t see that happening today. It will happen in time.”
But he added: “That’s not even the point. The point is the climate change threat is real and we need to do everything we can.”
He also explained how the weather the world experienced today was caused by actions that occurred “50, 60, 70 years ago”.
“So to keep the planet from going up the scale of accelerating; temperature increases and major climate change we’ve got to take action now,” he said.
“Luckily, the world understands that. So whether or not you get an immediate response from guests, or you get immediate response from shareholders isn’t even the point.
“We have to do it and we’re all committed to it.”
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