Costa Crociere Foundation and Sahara Forest Project Join Forces for Sustainable Farming in the Desert of Jordan

ARENDAL, Norway, August 16, 2019 /3BL Media/ – Costa Group, the leading cruise company in Europe, through its Costa Crociere Foundation, joins forces with the Sahara Forest Project Foundation to enlarge the scope of the innovative initiative to revegetate the desert in Jordan with sustainable technologies.

The agreement was signed recently by Lars Myren, Chairman of the Sahara Forest Project Foundation, and Michael Thamm, Group CEO Costa Group and Carnival Asia, onboard the historic sailing ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl at Arendalsuka.

The mission of the Sahara Forest Project -inaugurated under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in September 2017 - is to green desert areas and create local green jobs through production of food, freshwater and clean energy, using saltwater and sunlight as the main input factors.

The partnership between the Sahara Forest Project Foundation and Costa Crociere Foundation represents a concrete step forward for the project in Jordan. The support from Costa Group - through its two brands Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises - will allow to scale-up the project to 20 hectares of commercial facility, realizing the exciting potential where every vegetable produced will suck out CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it in revegetated land. This initiative fits perfectly with Costa Group’s commitment to sustainable innovation and value creation, as well as with the Costa Crociere Foundation’s mission to promote social and environmental improvement.

An important part of the agreement is represented by the involvement of Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises guests: guests cruising on Costa and AIDA ships calling at Aqaba will have the unique chance to taste, for the very first time in the world, at least ten different environmentally friendly vegetables produced by using solar power and saltwater in the Jordan desert, through special recipes created by the Executive Chefs of the two cruise companies to emphasize their taste and quality.

“The Sahara Forest Project is very proud to join forces with a global leader within the tourism industry. The new long-term agreement for the supply of vegetables to Costa and AIDA ships will pave the way for an expansion of our project in Jordan, while raising international awareness for the need to scale-up innovative solutions to combat global warming and create local jobs in desert areas.” - said Mr. Myren of the Sahara Forest Project. “In 2050 there will be almost 10 billion people on the planet who will need sustainably produced food, freshwater and clean energy. It is urgent to prove that it is possible to shift away from current agricultural practices traditionally using 80% of scarce freshwater resources and contributing with 25% of CO2 emissions in many dry countries and scale up concepts that are good for the environment, social development and business.”, said Mr. Myren.

“We are proud to support this path-breaking project that represents a model for future sustainable farming in desert areas” stated Michael Thamm, Group CEO Costa Group and Carnival Asia. “By supporting the Sahara Forest Project, we serve our guests vegetables grown in a way that fights the spread of deserts and creates a sound livelihood for the local population, in line with our sustainable development strategy and our concrete commitment to creating a greener planet. Costa Group is leading the cruise industry when it comes to sustainability, as demonstrated by the introduction of the first ever LNG powered cruise ship earlier this year and by the significant investments in shore power and innovative technologies for a zero-emission future”.

Currently, the Sahara Forest Project operates 3 hectares-commercial size facility 12 kilometers north of the port of Aqaba, combining saltwater-cooled greenhouses, solar energy panels and different techniques for outdoor revegetation in dry areas. The governments of Jordan and Norway, the European Union Commission and USAID have been crucial in financing and supporting the unique facility.

From October 2019 to October 2020, four Costa ships (Costa Mediterranea, Costa Victoria, Costa Diadema and Costa Deliziosa) and four AIDA ships (AIDAvita, AIDAbella, AIDAprima and AIDAblu) will be visiting Aqaba, for a total of 20 calls, bringing more than 45,000 guests.

About Costa Group

The Costa Group is the leading cruise company in Europe and China, headquartered in Genoa (Italy). The 28 ships of the brands Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia together have a total capacity of more than 85,000 berths. The fleet will be further strengthened by 5 new vessels by 2023. The company has a global workforce of more than 31,500 employees. It is part of Carnival Corporation & plc.

About Costa Crociere Foundation

The Costa Crociere Foundation was established in 2014 and has funded 30 projects since then, costing over 4 million euros, which have benefited over 35,000 people. The Costa Crociere Foundation is an independent organization that aims to guarantee every individual's right to happiness by improving the social and environmental conditions. The Foundation is involved in many social and environmental projects that make use of the resources made available by the Company and its partners.

About The Sahara Forest Project

The Sahara Forest Project Foundation is a Norwegian non-profit established to enable sustainable and profitable innovation and deployment of environmental technologies within the food-, water- and energy-sectors. Core elements of the SFP technology are a saltwater infrastructure combined with solar energy, greenhouse-based cultivation and outdoor food and biomass production. The Sahara Forest Project is currently operating a small-scale facility in Aqaba, Jordan and is working toward realizing a large commercial-size desert farm.

Media contacts:

Sahara Forest Project Foundation
Mr. Magnus Borgen, Head of Communications, +47 977 28 476, magnus@saharaforestproject.com

Costa Group
Costa Cruises Press Office
Gabriele Baroni – Communication Director – M +39 3497668013  baroni@costa.it
Davide Barbano – Media Relations Manager – M +39 334 6525216 barbano@costa.it
Cristiano de Musso – Head of Communication – M +39 334 6805095 demusso@costa.it
Press Office: T +39 010 5483523  - costapressoffice@costa.it  -  www.costapressoffice@costa.it

AIDA Cruises Press Office
Hansjörg Kunze - Vice President Communication & Sustainability
Tel. : +49 (0) 381 / 444-8021
Mail: presse@aida.de
http://www.aida.de/