Carnival Corporation has raised its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target after achieving its previous 2030 objective five years ahead of schedule. According to the company’s newly published 2025 Sustainability Report, Carnival reduced greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 20% in 2025 compared with its 2019 baseline, allowing it to introduce a new target of a 25% reduction by 2029, measured on an available lower berth day basis.
The company said the progress has been driven primarily by improvements in ship operations, energy efficiency and the gradual introduction of lower-emission technologies. Since 2008, Carnival has reduced the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations by 44%, despite continued growth in fleet capacity. The efficiency gains are also producing a measurable financial effect, with fuel savings expected to reach approximately $650 million in 2026 compared with 2019 levels.
Carnival’s strategy is based first on reducing the amount of energy required to operate its ships. Voyage planning and routing are being optimized to limit fuel consumption, while technologies such as Power Saver Packs, waste-heat recovery systems and air lubrication systems are being deployed across the fleet. Air lubrication reduces friction between the hull and surrounding water, while energy-management technologies are used to lower demand from hotel and technical systems. Carnival’s current energy-efficiency programme includes more than US$600 million in investments since 2015.
The company is also incorporating efficiency improvements into its newbuild programme. Seven ships scheduled to enter the fleet through 2033 are expected to provide more than 20% greater efficiency per passenger than the preceding generation of vessels. Carnival is simultaneously upgrading existing ships through improved propulsion, hull and propeller performance, energy monitoring and underwater hull-cleaning technologies.
The next stage of the programme involves expanding the use of lower-emission energy sources. Carnival operates LNG-powered ships and continues to increase shore-power capability, allowing vessels to connect to local electrical grids while alongside where the necessary infrastructure is available. The company has also conducted biofuel trials and is assessing technologies including battery storage, fuel cells and future alternative fuels. Its 2025 emissions strategy identifies biofuels, bio-LNG, e-methanol, hydrogen and other emerging technologies as potential components of the longer-term transition toward lower-carbon ship operations.
Carnival has stated that its LNG fleet currently comprises 11 ships in operation, with a further seven on order, while all of its ship engines are designed to be adaptable to sustainable alternative fuels as those fuels become available at commercial scale.
Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation, described the early achievement of the previous target as the result of sustained investment and operational work across the fleet. He indicated that the company would treat the achievement as a step in a longer decarbonization programme rather than as an endpoint, with the new 2029 objective intended to maintain pressure for further reductions.
Carnival’s longer-term objective remains net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from ship operations by 2050. The company’s current approach therefore combines measures that can reduce fuel consumption immediately with investments in technologies and infrastructure intended to provide greater flexibility as alternative marine fuels and propulsion systems develop.