The eyes of the world were on Brest, France which was hosting the One Ocean Summit organised as part of the French Presidency of the European Union, with United Nations support.
Hervé Gastinel, CEO of PONANT, took the opportunity to share five founding commitments relating to the environment that the company will be holding to for the near future.
First of its kind, the goal of this summit is to raise the level of the international community’s ambition regarding marine issues and to translate that shared responsibility for the ocean into tangible commitments.
Participating in the round table on sustainable tourism on Wednesday, CEO of PONANT, Hervé Gastinel, said: “We are proud to be invited to present the corporate actions taken to minimise the ecological footprint of our ships. We have ambitious objectives and are pursuing our actions with determination, as it seems to us essential to protect the ocean, particularly the polar ecosystems. In publicising these statements today, we also want to inspire other players to get involved”.
PONANT’s five commitments to protect the ocean already making progress:
- Consider the whole world as a “controlled sulphur and nitrogen oxide emission zone” for all in our fleet before 2025 All the company’s ships have already been converted to ultra-low sulphur diesel since 2019 and will soon all be equipped with catalytic systems that reduce NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions.
- Reduce our CO2 emissions by 15% by 2026 and 30% by 2030 compared to 2019
PONANT includes carbon intensity from the moment it starts to plan a cruise, taking into account distances to be covered and finding the optimum average daily speed. By relying on tools such as digital navigation aids and weather routers, the company is further improving the energy efficiency of its ships. Connecting to the electricity supply in ports that are equipped with this facility, and the use of synthetic fuels like e-LNG, are also under constant review. - Completely eliminate single-use plastics aboard and ashore from 2022
As has been implemented on the expedition ship, Le Commandant Charcot, PONANT is rolling out its “Zero Plastic” policy on all its ships. Key to this measure is a ban on single-use plastic water bottles across the fleet, thanks to the installation of systems to produce drinking water from seawater. This amounts to a saving on the usage of nearly a million single-use plastic water bottles, that’s over 30 tonnes of plastic, a year. - The distribution of metal refillable water gourds is not only reducing plastic waste but helping raise awareness among passengers of the issue. PONANT is also a signatory of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative.
- Ensure reuse and traceability of all waste by 2025
As well as actions taken on board, the company works collaboratively with all service providers and ports to ensure recyclable waste like cardboard, tin cans, and packaging are being recycled and reused.
Embark scientific research teams aboard the high polar exploration ship, Le Commandant Charcot
The latest addition to the PONANT fleet has two research laboratories and autonomous measurement instruments. Several long-term scientific partners enable teams of researchers – such as biologists, geographers, oceanographers, climatologists, and ethnologists – to work in polar regions on a repeat basis in places that are either still unexplored or rarely visited, allowing them to extend their polar campaigns.
Edited by John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor
