Company Unveils Redesigned Sail & Sustain Global Corporate Sustainability Program Centered Around Five Key Pillars
Publishes Company’s First Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Index
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) (the ”Company”), a leading global cruise company which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, today published its 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Report including its first Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) index as part of the Company’s global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain. The Company also unveiled its redesigned Sail & Sustain program which is structured around five pillars developed through cross-functional collaboration with key internal and external stakeholders. The pillars include: Reducing Environmental Impact, Sailing Safely, Empowering People, Strengthening our Communities and Operating with Integrity and Accountability.
“Despite the pandemic’s unprecedented headwinds, we have never wavered on our commitment to drive a positive impact on society and the environment through our global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain. Our newly redesigned Sail & Sustain strategy, centered around five key pillars, takes a comprehensive and holistic approach addressing all aspects of ESG across our Company. In addition, we have aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and have identified 10 goals where we believe we can make the greatest contribution to achieve a more sustainable future for all,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “As we look forward, we are committed to making a lasting impact on the world as responsible corporate citizens and ESG leaders. We are proud of our accomplishments to date and invite you to join us on our “Sail & Sustain” journey as we continue to build on this foundation for years to come.”
The 2020 ESG Report highlights the Company’s key advancements since its last published report as well as impactful initiatives underway, including:
Reducing Environmental Impact
- Created a long-term climate action strategy and goal to reach carbon neutrality through reducing carbon intensity, identifying and investing in technology including exploring alternative fuels and implementing a voluntary carbon offset program.
- Committed to offset three million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) over a three-year period beginning in 2021 to take immediate action and help bridge the gap in its decarbonization efforts until new technology becomes available. This is the equivalent of 7,539,593,613 miles driven by an average passenger car.
- Strong focus on reducing single-use plastics through initiatives including Norwegian Cruise Line becoming the first major global cruise company in 2020 to be plastic water bottle free through its partnership with JUST Goods, Inc.
- Completed new state-of-the-art PortMiami terminal which was constructed to LEED Gold standards.
- Continued focus on water stewardship by self-producing approximately 83% of water used on board in 2020.
Sailing Safely
- Enhanced existing robust commitment to health and safety in response to COVID-19 with its comprehensive SailSAFE™ health and safety program. The robust SailSAFE program consists of new and enhanced protocols to create multiple layers of protection against COVID-19. Upon a return to cruising, initial voyages will operate with fully vaccinated guests and crew, combined with preventative SailSAFE protocols.
- Co-formed the Healthy Sail Panel in collaboration with Royal Caribbean Group, a group of 11 leading experts to help inform the cruise industry in the development of new and enhanced cruise health and safety standards in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
- Established the SailSAFE Global Health and Wellness Council, the Company’s expert public health council, chaired by former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dr. Scott Gottlieb, which complements the work of the Healthy Sail Panel.
Empowering People
- Strengthened commitment to maintaining the Company’s culture of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace through its partnership with the Florida Diversity Council, diverse hiring initiatives and launch of diversity, equity and inclusion online training, including unconscious bias training in 2020. As of year-end 2020, approximately 50% of the global shoreside manager and above team was female and just under 50% of the U.S. shoreside manager and above team self-identified as an under-represented minority.
- As part of its supplier diversity program, approximately 45% of total U.S. supply chain spending in 2020 was with small businesses or businesses with minority, veteran or economically disadvantaged qualifications.
- Named by Forbes to the 2021 list of America’s Best Large Employers, ranking among the top 75 companies in the overall Large Employer category and among the top 10 companies in the Travel & Leisure sector.
Strengthening our Communities
- Announced a Paid Volunteer Day for all U.S. shoreside team members beginning in 2021 to support community involvement efforts.
- Provided $10 million of cash support to six Alaska port communities severely impacted by the ongoing cruise voyage suspension.
- Donated $100,000 in Visa gift cards to help support the cruise members of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1416 which saw 60% of its business wiped out nearly overnight due to the pandemic.
- Provided more than $2 million of in-kind humanitarian relief to support various community organizations worldwide throughout 2020 and 2021 including approximately $1.2 million in nonperishable food and water donations to be provided to Feeding America’s local Miami food bank Feeding South Florida by the end of 2021.
- Launched numerous philanthropic initiatives including the Giving Joy campaign which recognized hardworking teachers.
Operating with Integrity and Accountability
- Established ESG oversight at the Board of Directors level with the Technology, Environmental, Safety and Security (TESS) Committee.
- Commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion starts with the Board which is one-third female, one-third under-represented minorities and 55.5% diverse, with two of these diverse directors serving in Board leadership positions.
“We strive to continually improve our ESG disclosures and today’s publication of our first comprehensive ESG report and the first Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) index in the cruise industry is a significant step forward in our efforts to provide critical transparency to our key stakeholders around our Sail & Sustain strategy,” said Andrea DeMarco, senior vice president of ESG, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “Sustainability is integrated in our Company’s culture and we are committed to maintaining our high standards of operational excellence, achieving results the right way and creating value for all of our stakeholders.”
The 2020 ESG Report is part of the Company’s global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain, centered around its commitment to drive a positive impact on society and the environment while delivering on its vision to be the vacation of choice for everyone around the world. The 2020 ESG Report can be found on the Company’s website at https://nclhltd.com/sustainability.
