Ponant Explorations Group released its Sustainability Report for 2024, which reflects the company’s Blue Horizon strategy to build a more sustainable future for expedition travel.
“Our 2024 Sustainability Report provides a clear picture of the progress we have made as well as the road ahead,” said Wassim Daoud, Ponant Explorations Group’s Head of CSR and Sustainability. “We are continuing on our path towards decarbonization and are taking concrete steps to reduce our environmental impact, support scientific research, and help local communities.”
Last year, the company’s CO2 emissions per cruise day were 14 percent lower than in 2018, almost half the target of reducing them by 30 percent by 2030. This is thanks to improvements made in recent years in terms of fleet energy efficiency and the use of alternative energies.
To achieve its goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050, the company is focused on innovation in naval design and propulsion. Co-funded by the European Union’s Innovation Fund (Emissions Trading System), Swap2Zero is a bold R&D initiative.
Ponant’s elimination of single-use plastics is now 100% operational, with 20 tons of plastic waste avoided in one year. This action is in tandem with the widespread use of onboard systems for producing drinking water from seawater. The group has also committed to reducing and treating all waste, 100% of which is now sorted on board. Collaborative work is being carried out with stakeholders at each port to achieve the target of recovering 50% of waste by 2026.
Additionally, Ponant is committed to local communities. Thanks to her ice-navigation capability, Le Commandant Charcot supplies Inuit communities in Greenland from spring onwards, shortening the winter isolation period by a month. In Polynesia, the m/s Paul Gauguin provides no-cost medical consultations and care for inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands and other isolated archipelagos.
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