June 2022

 

MSC Cruises has chosen World Oceans Day, 8^th June, to publish its 2021 Sustainability Report. While the past year has again been marked by the challenges brought by the pandemic, we made significant progress in our sustainability practices.

 

Our Sustainability Action Plan has established key workstreams across the business: transitioning to net-zero emissions, scrutinising resource use and waste, supporting our people, investing in sustainable tourism, building greener terminals, and procuring sustainably. Actions within the plan are accompanied by goals, with measurable targets. Where possible, these align with relevant industry-approved metrics. These six key workstreams fall into the Company’s four focus areas of sustainability: Planet, People, Place, and Procurement.

 

Key progress in 2021 included the following:

• MSC Cruises made the commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 for marine operations
• Advanced trials of energy efficiency measures on MSC Grandiosa enabled us to cut emissions by 8% compared to design performance. We are committed to replicating these measures across the rest of the fleet.
• Committing to reduce onboard water demand by 3% per year for each ship, through a combination of monitoring usage, fitting water saving technologies, and training and educating crew.
• Supporting our people though extensive training programmes, including training to prepare for the introduction of new energy efficiency and technological advances on our ships, as well as committing to improvements in gender balance across the business
• Investing in sustainable tourism, including the promotion of our ‘Protectours’ excursions which are founded on strong sustainability principles. Around 70% of these tours include low impact transportation, including walking, cycling or kayaking, and many make a direct contribution to the environment through supporting species or habitat protection.
• Construction of the new MSC Cruises terminal in Miami began in the summer of 2021 with a comprehensive environmental and social management system in place for the construction and subsequent operation of the terminal. A third new MSC Cruises terminal is under construction in Barcelona and is due to be operational in 2023. Both of the facilities will be LEED certified, a widely used global green building rating system. Its rigorous score-based systems ensure high levels of efficiency in building design and operation.
• Efforts to procure sustainably were enhanced with the creation of a new internal committee dedicated to ensuring our approach to procurement has a positive impact on society and minimises damage to the environment. It is comprised of heads of procurement, logistics and sustainability, and meets every two months to review operational standards across our supply chain and to identify specific opportunities for positive change.

 

“While navigating our way through the extraordinary turbulence of the past two years, we have kept focused on sustainable business practices and on protecting our guests, employees and the communities in which we operate.’’ Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman