Corporation to donate US$2. 5 million to The Nature Conservancy
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Foundation and Carnival Corporation & plc have pledged to donate US$2.5 million to The Nature Conservancy to support its global marine protection efforts.
To be donated over the next five years, the money will be used to help identify the locations where industry and community are most dependent on marine and coastal resources. These include key conservation priority sites where Carnival Corporation and its ten cruise line brands operate.
“Carnival Corporation and our ten cruise lines take millions of people on the world’s oceans every year, so being environmentally responsible is critically important for us,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “Doing so is not just essential to the very existence of our business, but more importantly, it is the right thing to do. So it is with great pride and much excitement that we announce our support of the Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s leading conservation organisations.”
Donald added: “We share a strong commitment to achieving environmental excellence and we look forward to collaborating with the Nature Conservancy – which is widely recognised for its scientific expertise and global presence – to advance the cause of preserving and managing the health of our oceans and seas around the world.”
Backed by Carnival Foundation, The Nature Conservancy will help to quantify the value of marine ecosystems and develop mapping tools to guide investment decisions for conservation in the regions. It will also be able to significantly scale coral restoration initiatives within the Caribbean and continue to investigate how coral reefs and other natural systems can help reduce risks posed by storms and rising sea levels.
“Protecting and restoring the ocean is central to achieving The Nature Conservancy’s mission, and it is an organisational priority,” said Lynne Hale, managing director of the marine team at The Nature Conservancy. “The multiple benefits that healthy marine systems provide are essential to human well-being and economic growth. This support from Carnival Foundation will help advance important work to better understand, protect and restore these crucial systems.”
The donation is part of Carnival Corporation’s commitment to reducing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions from its shipboard operations by 20% by 2015. Recently, the company announced that it would install its industry-first exhaust gas cleaning technology on more than 70% of its fleet to reduce emissions and improve air quality.