Costa Crociere Foundation and Sahara Forest Project Join Forces For Sustainable Farming in the Desert Of Jordan
For the first time guests onboard Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises ships calling at Aqaba, Jordan,will taste vegetables produced by using saltwater and solar power in the desert. The initiative contributes to the revegetation of desert areas in Jordan.
Arendal, 13 August 2019 – 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 today 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".