MSC Cruises announced it will become world's first major cruise company to go “carbon neutral” via donating money "to reduce or capture the equivalent amount of greenhouse gas emissions" its passenger shipping vessels produce.
The announcement of the Genoa-based company came on Friday, November 8, in Hamburg amid criticism from environmental campaigners that the cruise shipping industry is not doing enough to reduce CO2 emissions as well as other greenhouse gases. Other industries, like aviation, are also increasingly promoting carbon offsetting in order to balance their emissions.
MSC Cruises (subsidiary of MSC Shipping) said that as of January 1, 2020, it will ensure that their fleet "makes no negative contribution to climate change.”
MSC is one of the biggest cruise operators in the world, with plans to expand its fleet to 25 cruise ships by 2027.