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Scrubbers, LNG, recycling, safety figure in Carnival Corp. sustainability goals

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Major goals include a renewed effort to reduce greenhouse gases from ship operations by 25% from the company's 2005 baseline
The world's largest cruise operator set 10 major goals for reducing its environmental footprint over the next five years, while enhancing the health, safety and security of its customers and crew, and ensuring sustainable business practices.

Carnival Corp. & plc consists of 10 brands operating 100 ships and carrying 11m passengers annually to 725 ports around the globe. It has 120,000 employees.

CEO Arnold Donald said the health and viability of the oceans, seas and communities where Carnival travels are 'absolutely essential to our business' so protecting the environment is one of the most critical areas of focus for the corporation.

Carnival announced in November 2014 that it had met its corporate goal to reduce its rate of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions from shipboard operations by 20% a year ahead of its initial plan.

In detailing its 2020 sustainability goals on Tuesday, Carnival renewed its aim to continue reducing the rate of CO2, or greenhouse gas emissions, by 25% from its 2005 baseline. Among the energy reduction and conservation initiatives to achieve that are four next-generation ships for Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises that will be powered by liquefied natural gas.

In addition, Carnival is investing $400m to develop and deploy exhaust gas cleaning systems, or scrubbers, that reduce sulfur compounds and particular matter.

The company pledged to continue reducing waste generated by its shipboard operations by 5% by 2020 relative to its 2010 baseline. This involves management plans for various waste streams on board and work with supply chain partners to reduce packaging and ports to support recycling.

Carnival aims to improve the rate of water efficiency on its ships by 5% by 2020 relative to its 2010 baseline. Shipboard systems are used to produce approximately 73% of water needs.

The company encourages passengers to be aware of their own impact on the environment through a variety of programs such as reusing towels.

An additional 2020 sustainability goal is to increase the percentage of the company’s capacity equipped with advanced wastewater purification systems by 10 points compared to its 2014 baseline. As part of this initiative, all new ships are equipped with the advanced systems.

Carnival aims to boost the number of its ships with cold ironing capability even though only six ports it visits globally are equipped to provide shore power.

All 18 newbuilds entering service between 2015 and 2022 will be more efficient than ships in the current fleet and will have advanced wastwater purification systems, scrubbers and cold ironing capabilities.

On the health, safety and security of passengers, crew and others working on behalf of company, Carnival said it strives to be free of injuries and is identifying improvement areas to implement occupational health and safety best practices, standards and processes.

Continuing to build a diverse and inclusive workforce is yet another practice in the stated effort to provide employees with a positive work environment and opportunities to build a rewarding career. Other efforts are continuing to develop a sustainable supply chain and vendor code of conduct compliance.

Carnival is supporting initiatives with local and global communities through such efforts as a five-year, $2.5m donation to The Nature Conservancy, and the launch of a 10th cruise brand, Fathom, that seeks to develop lasting social impact partnerships supporting destination projects related to education, the environment and economic development.