Our Polar Promise (2020)

PRINCIPLES Embedding responsible practices throughout our business, whether it’s in polar wilderness or in the places we work each day. Goal: By 2025, our goal is to work exclusively with suppliers, vendors and external partners who share our commitment to preserving the polar regions.

PLANET Reducing our footprint and building resilience through best practices and advanced sustainability technologies. Goal: By 2025, Quark Expeditions will reduce carbon emissions per passenger by 10%.

PARTNERSHIPS Making a positive impact on the people, environment, and communities we visit through outreach, collaboration, and innovation. Goal: By 2025, Quark Expeditions will continue to lead change through community engagement and by supporting scientific, conservation and sustainable development in polar communities.

POSITIVE IMPACT Inspiring and empowering our guests to make changes that create positive impacts, wherever they live. Goal: By 2025, the positive benefit of bringing people to the polar regions will far outweigh any impact of taking people there.

In April 2019, we reinforced our commitment to the polar regions with the unveiling of POLAR PROMISE —the most comprehensive and holistic sustainability strategy in place in the polar regions. In Polar Promise, Quark Expeditions identifies measurable goals to be reached by 2025. OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT

Sustainability has always been part of our DNA.

Q uark Expeditions was one of the founding members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), whose mandate includes the preservation of the Antarctic region Quark Expeditions has long been active in the environmental conservation efforts of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) We launched the first-ever carbon-neutral voyage to Antarctica in 2012 From 2014–2016, Quark Expeditions partnered with CarbonNeutral to offer passengers a pay-as-you-fly carbon offsetting program on international and domestic flights

$686,729 of the proceeds from our onboard charity auctions have been donated to the citizen science group Penguin Watch since 2012 Since 2014, $169,924 of the proceeds from our onboard charity auctions have supported the South Georgia Heritage Trust and Friends of South Georgia In 2017, Quark Expeditions eliminated single use plastics In 2019, we eliminated 14,000 Individual yogurt containers and 320,000 single use plastic bottles.

Check out the infographic for a snap-shot of some of our other recent sustainability achievements.

Polar Promise is simply — our promise to preserve the pristine polar regions for generations to follow. We invite you to join us on that journey.

Powered by