We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Climate Lobbying Overview: Carnival Corporation appear to have mostly negative, limited engagement with climate policies. Carnival appear to support the goals of the Paris Agreement, the implementation of climate regulation to enable the decarbonization of shipping by 2050 and the transition to zero emission fuels. However, they have opposed the inclusion of shipping in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and support the long-term use of liquid natural gas (LNG) in the shipping industry.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Whilst Carnival have stated their goals are “in alignment with the Paris Agreement”, evidence from their 2020 Sustainability Report suggests they support emissions reductions in line with the IMO’s target for carbon neutrality by 2100. However, in October 2021, Carnival were a signatory of the ‘Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization’ which urged policymakers to set “clear, effective and equitable” climate policies and fully decarbonize shipping by 2050. Nevertheless, in their consultation submission for the 2020 EU ETS update, Carnival appear to use their support for global GHG emissions regulations to oppose regional policies.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: In 2020-21 Carnival Corporation appear to have mixed, limited disclosure and engagement with climate policies. In a 2020 consultation submission to the European Commission on the EU ETS update, Carnival appear to have opposed the inclusion of shipping in the EU ETS and was unsupportive of reducing free EU ETS allowances, advocating that “An EU ETS for shipping as designed for other sectors, is not fit for purpose…it would increase the operating costs and the administrative burden especially for SMEs and those companies having limited operations/representation in Europe”. In September 2021, Carnival Corporation Senior Vice President for Maritime Affairs Tom Strang appeared to emphasize the uncertainty with the EU ETS, stating that whilst challenging the ETS is “perhaps not as challenging as some of the other proposals we’ve seen”.
Evidence from Carnival’s 2020 Sustainability Report suggests they may be unsupportive of a carbon tax, communicating that “carbon taxes or penalties” could “increase our fuel costs” and “impact the availability of fuel in certain regions of the world”. Carnival did respond to CDP’s 2021 information request, however this response is not publicly available to view.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Carnival appears to support the long-term use of LNG within the shipping industry. For example, in their 2020 Sustainability Report, Carnival appear to advocate for infrastructure development to establish LNG as a “standard for powering cruise ships”. A senior Carnival executive was also reported to have stated that “LNG is an important short-term and long-term solution”, in an August 2021 ‘Ship Technology’ article, and was further reported describing the environmental benefits of LNG in an article published in September 2021. Carnival also released a YouTube video in April 2021 detailing the environmental benefits of LNG, stating that “among the cleanest fuels in the world, LNG significantly reduces emissions”. However, on their corporate website and in a December 2021 Cruise Industry News report, Carnival has stated their commitment to decarbonization through the transition to other power sources, such as large scale batteries and fuel cells. Within this report, Carnival CEO Arnold Donald also appeared to support on-shore power supply for ships, stating that Carnival are “focused on expanding shore power to our high volume ports”.
Industry Association Governance: Carnival has publicly disclosed an incomplete list of its partnerships with industry associations, through a dedicated page in their 2020 Sustainability Report, released in 2021. However, Carnival has not publicly disclosed further details on its engagement or alignment with its industry associations, including through publishing an industry association review. Carnival’s CDP response is also not available to view. Carnival is a member of the UK Chamber of Shipping, and therefore is an indirect member of the European Community Shipowners’ Association who actively engage in obstructive lobbying with climate policies.