Content Section

Sea You Tomorrow: Costa Cruises Presents Its Sustainability Report & Plan

Responsible innovation and valuecreation are the pillars of Costa Cruises’ corporate social responsibility planand its contribution to sustainable development. This commitment isreflected by the results of Costa’s Sustainability Report 2014: 100%separated waste; LED lighting fleetwide and the world’s first LNG-powered shipsdue for delivery in 2019 and 2020. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Genoa – October 1st, 2015 – Costa Cruises,Europe’s number one cruise company, has presented its “Sustainability Report -Results for 2014 and Outlook for the Future” and illustrated its corporatesocial responsibility plan for the coming years.

Divided intothree sections titled “SEA, YOU, TOMORROW”, the Report highlights the main sustainabilityresults achieved by the company. The final section, dealing with theplan, defines Costa’s objectives and route for the future in terms both of theproduct and innovation, and of the path to sustainable growth.
The Report canbe downloaded in the new “Sustainability” section of the Costa Cruises websiteat www.costacruise.com/sustainability.

SEA - CostaCruises is constantly committed to minimizing the environmental impact of itsoperations; it does this by means of a series of initiatives aimed at carefuluse of energy resources, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and waterconsumption, and efficient waste management.

The mainresults in the environmental field obtained in 2014 were:
(year-on-year% reduction)
- 9% decrease in fuel consumption per passenger/day;
- 3% reduction in the company’s carbon footprint;
- emission reductions equal to -4% tonnes of SOx, -7% tonnes of NOxand PMs (gases typically produced during fuel combustion processes);
- 9.7% reduction in energy consumption;
- installation of the Exhaust Gas Cleaning system for abatement ofemissions on 7 ships in the fleet;
- replacement of existing light globes with low power consumption LED lamps on allthe ships in the fleet: 450,000 globes were replaced, resulting in 80%energy savings;
- 100% of materials and products consumed on board collected andseparated for disposal and recycling;
- 1.36% reduction in water consumption on the ships, 68% of which isproduced directly on board by means of special desalination plants.

YOU –Costa works constantly to build solid relations with local organizationsin order to help create economic and - above all - social value. Indeed,the links with local communities go beyond simply taking many thousands oftourists to the finest destinations all over the world. The presence ofthe Italian company brings significant benefits for the local economy in eachplace visited, generating new opportunities for business and employment, bothdirectly and through the development of allied industries.

To give an ideaof the scale of this positive impact, Costa has over 8800 suppliers in 5continents and its ships sail to 261 ports of call located all over the world,with 21 added in 2014. Specific examples include development andexpansion of the operations in the homeport of Savona, where Costa Cruisesopened the second terminal building at the Palacrociere, and the partnershipwith the Municipality of Genoa promoting the city’s UNESCO WorldHeritage-listed Palazzi dei Rolli (once used to provide lavish Stateaccommodation to visiting dignitaries).
Costa’soperations lead to the creation of jobs both indirectly and directly throughthe recruitment of company employees: in 2014 Costa Cruises provided workfor 4000 new shipboard hires in the 18 to 30 age group employed under industryspecific contracts.


TOMORROW – Thecommitment for the future translates into the planning and implementation ofhighly innovative corporate social responsibility projects. In July thisyear, Costa Cruises announced that it had placed orders for the construction ofthe first two cruise ships in the world to be powered by LNG (Liquefied NaturalGas.), the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel. The ships are due toenter service in 2019 and 2020. This will entail a substantial investmentand is a move ushering in a new era of sustainable fuels. Costa Cruises’pioneering decision to introduce these vessels is a prime example of the waythe company pre-empts industry trends, while guaranteeing environmentalcompliance and protection.

With regard tothe product, Costa is committed – for example – to promoting a healthy andsustainable food experience for guests and crew members. This is done byfostering local culinary traditions and sourcing local ingredients, with aparticular emphasis on Italian dishes and the Mediterranean diet.Accordingly, priority is given to supplies of fresh food in the differentports of call, with 25% of this produce purchased locally, thus bringing abouta substantial reduction in the impact generated by logistics activities. Theinvolvement of partner suppliers committed to responsible management of thesupply chain also testifies to the Italian company’s policy of adopting andpromoting a sustainable food model.

The 2014Sustainability Report is audited by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC). It isdrawn up in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)-G4 guidelines(disclosure at Core application level), setting it apart from similar documentsissued by other cruise lines.

Kaleidoscope powered