Our Polar Pledge
Our latest ESG report is now available!
At Oceanwide Expeditions, we recognize that exploring the world's most remote and fragile environments comes with significant responsibility. Like all forms of travel, expedition cruising has an environmental impact - one that we are committed to better understanding, further minimizing, and directly addressing. We believe that our challenge is not only to reduce our footprint, but to amplify our positive contribution.
Both within our operations and across the expedition cruise industry, the importance of sustainability measures cannot be overstated, given the specific areas in which we operate and the unique biomes we visit. Our segment - small-scale, purpose-driven expedition cruising - may represent only a fraction of global CO₂ emissions, yet it demands meaningful, tangible action. We are undergoing a verification process to evaluate our complete Scope 1 emissions for 2024 and 2025.
While we are reducing our emissions as much as possible across our activities, some emissions are inevitable. We also fund external activities beyond our supply chain to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, such as our Reforestation Project. Through this project, we aim to fully offset a significant portion of our Scope 1 emissions* relating to our cruise activities by 2035.
Our itineraries lead us deep into the polar regions. We take our guests to the ends of the Earth, and into areas of extraordinary natural value and ecological sensitivity. We value and prioritize guest education and a deeper understanding of our natural world, building on our roots in scientific research.
As a company, we are committed to making better choices through transparency and collaboration. From investing in our vessel fleet and implementing low-impact tourism practices to changing our broader value chain, our efforts are rooted in both immediate improvements and a long-term vision. We are active members of AECO and IAATO, and we work closely with regional conservation-focused organizations and groups to facilitate research.
Our ESG strategy builds on solid foundations. We are focusing on modernizing our fleet, optimizing energy use, minimizing waste, and implementing carbon reduction and compensation programs. It reflects our values as responsible operators and advocates for the polar regions and shapes our future as we move forward.
We may be small in scale, but we believe our choices can make a lasting difference not only in the polar world, but in our broader, global environment. No travel is impact-free. But we believe purposeful, small-scale, education-driven expedition travel - especially in the polar regions - can drive awareness, conservation, and a better, more balanced future.
View and download our latest ESG report for further details.
* Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sources that we own or control directly.
