All PONANT ships have obtained Green Globe certification, an international standard for travel and tourism stakeholders, making it the first maritime cruise line to achieve the certification.
“Green Globe certification, a global tourism industry standard, is a key element of our commitment to ensuring accountability for our actions. It’s important for our guests and also for continuing to encourage the whole maritime sector to realise its environmental transition,” explains Wassim Daoud, Head of CSR and Sustainability at PONANT.
“What sets this certification apart is that it is based on continuous improvement. While our goal this year was to obtain it, the major challenge in the coming years will be to keep it.”
Green Globe certification has been awarded to all four Sisterships in the Le Boréal series, the six PONANT Explorers, Le Commandant Charcot and the sailing yacht Le Ponant.
Since 2019, the entire fleet has been using Low-Sulphur Marine Gas Oil (LS-MGO) which has a sulphur content below 0.05%, 13 times lower than current maritime standards, significantly limiting its atmospheric impact.
PONANT was the world’s first cruise line to abandon heavy fuel oil and support international authorities advocating for the extension of Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) to all oceans, like the Rome Declaration.
In pursuing the same goal to reduce air emissions, PONANT has also undertaken to equip its entire fleet with catalytic systems to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and shore power connection systems in ports, which means engines can be switched off. Both these technologies will be fully deployed by the end of 2026. PONANT has set itself a target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% per cruise day by 2030, compared to 2018.
The company has also made great strides in reducing waste production. A strategy of gradually phasing out single-use plastics has been implemented since 2021. This has been notably realised through the deployment of Nordaq filtration units for onboard production of drinking water from seawater. It is then distributed via water fountains or in recyclable glass bottles, facilitated by an onboard encapsulation chain. The company has also reviewed all its onboard operations to eliminate other sources of plastic waste and continues to pursue its zero single-use plastic objective in 2024.