Uniworld Named First River Cruise Company To Have Validated Net Zero Targets Under Parent Company The Travel Corporation. River Cruise Company Announces Carbon Fund to Support its Goal to Achieve Net Zero by 2050
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, under parent company The Travel Corporation, has become the first river cruise company to introduce verified net zero targets validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).
These targets align with the scale of reductions required to keep global temperatures below an increase of 1.5 degrees. Uniworld has reset their Climate Action Plan to achieve net zero by 2050, replacing the original goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 and representing a more ambitious effort to address climate change.
A critical commitment of Uniworld’s Climate Action Plan is to evolve with climate science, available technology and business practices. In the time since the organization announced plans to become carbon neutral, its singular focus has been on decarbonization, appreciating that emitting less carbon into the atmosphere is the most effective means to address climate change. The company’s net zero targets are supported with clear pathways as outlined in their Climate Action Plan.
“Protecting our planet is a responsibility that we don’t take lightly at Uniworld, and we’re proud to be making great strides to achieve this through measurable, science-backed steps,” says Ellen Bettridge, President & CEO of Uniworld.
“Hand in hand with our parent company, we’re making our goals even more ambitious, with plans to achieve net zero by 2050. Our targets are backed by an internal Carbon Fund which ensures that we are able to make the necessary investments required to decarbonize our business.“
In addition to the Carbon Fund, an industry leading approach to reduce a business’ carbon footprint, Uniworld’s TreadRight Foundation will prioritize support for nature-based solutions to address climate change by allowing the earth’s natural carbon cycle to restore itself.
Further action on climate change includes Uniworld’s approach to reducing food waste, a significant contributor to climate change. Uniworld is on track to reduce food waste by 50% by 2025, by employing Leanpath solutions to improve kitchen efficiency and prevent food waste on a large scale. Since first implementing Leanpath in August 2021, Uniworld has prevented 13,156kg of food waste from occurring, avoiding nearly 100 tonnes of carbon from being emitted across the six ships currently operating the system. In 2023, Leanpath will be implemented across the entire Uniworld fleet.
Additionally, Uniworld offers ‘Make Travel Matter’ experiences across their itineraries, with plans to include them on at least 50% of itineraries by 2025. These are immersive impact experiences that are carefully chosen for the way in which they advance the United Nation’s Global Goals, allowing Uniworld guests to positively support the planet, its people and wildlife.
Progress on Uniworld’s sustainability goals, as outlined in their How We TreadRight strategy, can be found in their annual impact reports. Use of the Carbon Fund will also be reported on in future impact reports.
For more information, visit https://impact.ttc.com/ http://www.treadright.org/
(Uniworld Boutique River Cruises)
