Costa Cruises Presents the New Edition of the Sustainability Report
Costa strategy for sustainable development and innovation, follows the principles of the UN’s 2030 Agenda. Main results achieved in 2016 by Costa fleet in relation to environmental protection.
The document sets out the Italian cruise ship company’s strategy and programmatic plan for sustainability, describing the main projects and the results achieved in 2016. All the sustainable development goals established by the 2030 Agenda, defined by the UN to promote responsible development worldwide, are fully assimilated and integrated into this edition.
“The roadmap we created three years ago – said Stefania Lallai, Sustainability and External Relations Director of Costa Cruises – places sustainability at the centre of an integrated and multi-stakeholder approach. This led us to achieve a successful series of projects which implicate the direct involvement of the major players: the next step on the way to an increasingly sustainable future will be to make our guests play a progressively more active part as well, essential in order to achieve results and experiences that go beyond a cruise holiday.”
Costa Cruises’ Sustainability Report is divided into three sections: “Sea”, “You” and “Tomorrow”, which address the issues concerning environmental protection, the creation of shared values and responsible innovation, the cornerstones forming the basis of Costa Cruises’ sustainability initiatives.
SEA – Respect for the environment represents a priority goal for Costa Cruises and it is fully integrated into the company’s business model. Many of the projects it has developed concentrate on: reducing emissions, optimising energy consumption, rationalising water resources and recycling waste, and go far beyond mere compliance. On the contrary, they are being implemented with a view to exceeding applicable national and international legislation. The following are among the major results achieved in this area:
- A 3% reduction in fuel consumption per passenger per day compared to 2015
- A 5% decrease in the carbon footprint compared to 2015
- A 9% reduction in SOx gas and a 4% reduction in NOx and PMs compared to the previous year
- 100% of the differentiated waste collection is carried out directly on board
- A 9.5% decrease in waste produced per passenger per day compared to the previous year
- No less than 393 tonnes of aluminium have been collected and sent for recycling over the last 10 years
- 62% of water requirements are produced on board
The most significant projects in terms of emissions and consumption involve the installation of the ECO Exhaust Gas Cleaning (ECO-EGCTM) system on board the ships, which enables emissions to be lowered by over 90%, the maintenance of the ships, the streamlining of navigation systems and systems for on board services, and the use of digital instruments for monitoring the environmental performance of each individual ship. By following circular economy principles, we have also been striving on board the Costa fleet to reduce waste production and to promote recycling and the recovery of materials, in connection with the ports that are the most sensitive to these issues. With regard to this, the consolidation of the collaboration with the CiAL [Aluminium Packaging Consortium], which has already enabled Costa to to collect and send for recycling 393 tonnes of aluminium over the last ten years, is particularly significant. Within this context, through the “Message in a Can” project, it has been possible to increase the differentiated collection of aluminium in the Municipality of Savona by 27%. The partnership with the Centro Nazionale di Ricerche (CNR) [National Research Centre] also continued in 2016, with a focus on significant issues in the oceanography and marine sciences sectors, with Costa making its resources available – ships and on-board professionalism – to support the research activities carried out by the CNR scientific network and to help disseminate and raise awareness of these issues among the guests and crew.
YOU – Central to Costa’s strategy for sustainable development is the promotion of an enterprise and tourism model capable of ensuring economic development and opportunities for growth in the places visited by its ships, while enhancing their identity, culture and natural heritage. A tangible example of value creation in this sense is the launch of a new itinerary in the Indian Ocean, with new destinations in India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. This choice has in fact contributed to the development of significant skills in the reception sector, through the creation of new professional profiles such as tourist guides and escorts: the appreciation of this new route is such as to suggest the creation of a stable micro-economy with additional opportunities for growth, linked to the presence of the Company’s ships.
Further evidence of the economic impact generated by the Company is represented by Savona, Costa Cruises’ main home port. The study carried out with the support of PwC quantified the economic contribution that Costa activities bring to the city’s GDP every year as approximately 38 million euros. The effects in terms of employment are similarly important, with a total of 661 jobs created and a direct expenditure of 96 euros per cruise passenger disembarking from Costa ships.
An integral part of the development course with the country is the identification of new destinations and cultural sites to add to the land tour programmes. In 2016 Costa Cruises introduced 150 new excursions compared to the previous year, concentrating in particular on promoting Italy’s hidden treasures, destinations that are of great interest on an artistic and cultural level, albeit outside the main international tourism flows.
Commitment to the development of skills was further strengthened, with more than 800,000 hours of training for employees during the year. The inauguration of the new Accademia Ospitalità Italiana Crociere (Academy for Italian Cruise Hospitality - the advanced training academy for cruise ship hospitality industry professionals), in collaboration with the Liguria Region, the Municipality of Arenzano and the ITS Accademia Italiana Marina Mercantile (The Italian Merchant Marine Academy). The school, located in the premises of the prestigious Villa Figoli in Arenzano (Genoa), is a veritable incubator for the development of professional profiles for employment in the cruise ship hospitality sector, with the aim of relaunching the value of excellence in support of the development of the tourist sector and at the same time, returning a fully restored public space to citizens of this municipality.
TOMORROW – In terms of responsible innovation, once again Costa confirms its role as pioneer in the the cruise sector with its two new ships, which will enter service in 2019 and 2021 respectively. They will run on LNG [liquefied natural gas], the “cleanest” fossil fuel currently available, which will lead to a substantial reduction in noxious emissions such as CO2, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide and particulates. The presence of the new ships will in fact stimulate an important adaptation of the infrastructure system needed to accomodate and serve them, with a long-term vision and to ensure the large-scale promotion of LNG.
Costa Cruises has also placed nutrition and the food supply chains at the centre of its sustainable development strategy. The first aim of this strategy is to reconsider the food on offer by making a meticulous selection of quality raw materials and products. Over the last two years, dishes and recipes (over 500 choices) that are an expression of Italian tradition and the Mediterranean diet were added to the menus of the entire fleet. Strict attention was paid to the evaluation of the impact of seasonal produce and the fresh products included in the recipes, such as fruit and vegetables.
The consolidation of partnerships with companies (Barilla, Illy, Agrimontana and Carlsberg in particular) committed to the responsible management of the supply chain and of production in the food sector has guaranteed additional support for Costa Cruises’ strategy.
Certificated by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), the 2016 Sustainability Report was written in conformity with the G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines defined by the GRI – Global Reporting Initiative and adds the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations to the mapping of the areas of Costa’s intervention and commitment.
For further information:
Costa Cruises
Press Office - Tel. +39 010 5483523 / 010 5483068 - costapressoffice@costa.it
Gabriele Baroni – Communication Director – cell.+39 3497668013 - baroni@costa.it
Davide Barbano - Media Relations Manager - +39 010.5483523 - 334.6525216 – barbano@costa.it
Press releases and photos available on www.costapresscenter.com
