Royal Caribbean partners with World Wildlife Fund to reach sustainability targets

DONSOL, Philippines — Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. chairman
and CEO Richard Fain, joined by World Wildlife Fund CEO Carter Roberts,
traveled to this small Filipino community to announce a five-year partnership
to address major threats facing the world’s oceans.

Fain and Roberts each said they were personally involved
in identifying the needs, setting targets and devising strategies in several
areas of the cruise line’s operations and customer interactions.

Specific targets have been set that will reduce the
cruise company’s carbon emissions, increase sourcing of seafood from certified
vendors, provide additional support to the destinations and communities where
RCCL brands call, and educate passengers about the dangers facing the oceans as
well as engaging them to act.

Fain said that although the line employs environment
officers and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on water purification
systems, scrubbers and programs to reduce landfill waste, it isn’t simple to
get to the levels of impact the company wanted to reach without the expertise
WWF can provide.

Roberts, whose organization will receive $5 million in
philanthropic contributions over five years from the cruise line, said he was
excited about RCCL’s ability to reach millions of consumers with choices
passengers can make that will improve the health of the oceans after their
sailing has ended.

“People want to know what they can do to help, including
how to behave when they travel,” he said. “We want to give them the tools.”

The specific targets, to be reached by the year 2020,
include:

• Source 90% of wild-caught seafood, by volume, from
certifiably sustainable fisheries

• In North America and Europe, source 75% of farmed
seafood, by volume, from certifiably responsible farms

• In support of the above, establish traceability goals
for obtaining chain of custody, by June 30 of this year.

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35%

• Also by June 30, develop, with WWF, new targets that
address destination stewardship as well as strengthen the line’s destination-sustainability
assessment and selection process.

Fain said that the decision for the partnership was not
made as a result of customer research, but that “both staff and guests expect
us” to engage in responsibility programs. “I think this may be one of the more
impactful [initiatives] we’ve been involved in,” he said.

The announcement was made in Donsol because WWF was
involved in helping the town develop as an ecotourism destination. Tours to
swim with whale sharks bring significant economic benefits to the town and
protect the sharks, as well.

RCCL made a separate donation of $200,000 to WWF
Philippines in support of Donsol-area conservation programs.