Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, the global cruise company which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, announced the launch of its revamped climate action strategy along with short- and near-term greenhouse gas targets to support the company’s ambitious pursuit of net zero by 2050.
Net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions reabsorbed from the atmosphere.
According to NCL, these actions underscored the company’s commitment to decarbonisation as part of its global sustainability programme, Sail and Sustain.
Key components of the company’s new interim greenhouse gas reduction targets include reducing greenhouse gas intensity by 10% by 2026 and 25% by 2030, compared to a 2019 baseline with intensity measured on a per-capacity-day basis. Capacity days are defined as berths available for sale multiplied by the number of cruise days for the period.
The targets also cover the company’s emissions from its fleet of ships, islands and facilities as well as upstream fuel- and energy-related activities, including well-to-tank emissions and as such, the targets will capture the full well-to-wake emissions impact of the company’s fuel consumption.
Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer-elect of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said the company was proud to further refine and strengthen its climate action strategy and commitments, including by setting milestone greenhouse gas intensity reduction targets which will guide it on its ambitious pursuit of net zero by 2050.
“Every aspect of our business from shoreside to shipboard is responsible for doing their part to design, deliver and demonstrate results for decarbonisation and our board of directors has reinforced this expectation by establishing shared accountability and tying incentives for our entire management team to this critical effort.
We also recently took an important step forward on our pursuit of net zero by announcing the modification of two of our future Prima Class newbuilds to accommodate the use of green methanol in the future,” said Sommer.
Sommer said the company was also mobilising its network of team members, ports and destinations, suppliers and partners, and guests to act now and join NCL on this journey, amplifying the efforts it could achieve on its own.
The company said it was also equipping its ships with technology needed to plug-in, aiming to have approximately 70% of its fleet equipped by 2025.
Jessica John, vice-president of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ environmental, social and governance (ESG), investor relations and corporate communications departments, said the company was encouraged to see the significant progress and momentum across sectors to decarbonise, but fundamental challenges continued to exist for the cruise industry to fully decarbonise by 2050.
“Rather than waiting for these challenges to dissolve, our strategy is about acting now to implement solutions for efficiency today, innovate for future solutions and collaborate with our stakeholders along the way. Underpinning this strategy is good governance and effective risk management as we work to advance our climate action efforts and build our company’s resilience,” said John.
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