2025 Sustainability Report
25th September 2026
3 Pillars
Driven by its commitment to sustainable development, the Group structures its approach around three key pillars: preserving nature and human health, improving well-being at work, and engaging stakeholders to drive meaningful action. The 2025 report showcases progress across each of these areas, from fleet decarbonization and support for scientific research to strengthening relationships with local communities encountered throughout our explorations.
Nature and human health
Well-being at work
Drive meaningful action
Waste Recovery
On board, 100% of waste is now sorted, and the recovery rate continues to progress toward the 50% target set for 2026. Waste recovery refers to all processes that transform waste into useful resources, including recycling, reuse, and energy recovery, helping to promote more sustainable resource management and support the circular economy.
A Decade of Action
By optimizing waste management, the Group aims to build a resource management model aligned with its environmental commitments through a structured, continuous improvement approach organized into three phases:
2019–2022 Explore & Reduce
2023–2025 Assess & Structure
2026–2030 Optimize & Accelerate
CSR and Sustainable Development Director, PONANT EXPLORATIONS
Wassim Daoud
« Improving waste recovery is a key lever for reducing the environmental impact of our operations and helping preserve the ecosystems we visit. We have set ambitious objectives to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill, promote material recycling, and support local waste treatment channels. Achieving these objectives depends on our ability to bring together field stakeholders and deploy reliable tools and scalable solutions. »
Transforming practices
Since 2024, PONANT EXPLORATIONS has partnered with Bureau Veritas to conduct a series of waste assessments at its ten highest-volume ports of call: Papeete, Athens, Venice, Nice, Longyearbyen, Glasgow, Broome, Darwin, Fort-de-France, and Valletta. The objective is to precisely and objectively analyze the entire waste management chain, from collection and sorting to transportation and processing of offloaded waste.
Preliminary document review
On-site observation of waste offloading operations at the port
Visits to local collection and treatment service providers
Interviews with all stakeholders involved
This structured approach makes it possible to identify the actual waste streams being followed, assess operational practices, detect any gaps between contractual commitments and on-the-ground realities, and derive concrete improvement opportunities.
As a result, the waste recovery rate across the fleet increased from 13% in 2023 to 49% in 2025.
Senior Environmental Consultant, Bureau Veritas
Laurence Wavrin
“The success of this initiative demonstrates that the most sustainable progress stems from collective commitment and a deep understanding of operational realities. By choosing to go beyond compliance and focus on the actual conditions at each port of call, PONANT EXPLORATIONS succeeded in bringing together all stakeholders involved in the waste management chain and transforming a complex challenge into a genuine driver of environmental progress. At Bureau Veritas, we are proud to have supported this ambition. True to our purpose, Shaping a World of Trust, we leverage our technical expertise and global network to support our partners in their environmental transition with rigor, pragmatism, and a shared conviction: the most sustainable transformations are built together.”
French Polynesia
Le Paul Gauguin calls at Papeete more than 50 times each year. To drive lasting change, the Group launched a structured collaborative approach involving all stakeholders in the local waste value chain. Thanks to this cooperation, environmental performance has improved significantly. While none of the waste offloaded in Papeete was previously recovered, recent measurements show that the recovery rate now reaches 60%.
Le Paul Gauguin calls at Papeete more than 50 times each year. To drive lasting change, the Group launched a structured collaborative approach involving all stakeholders in the local waste value chain. Thanks to this cooperation, environmental performance has improved significantly. While none of the waste offloaded in Papeete was previously recovered, recent measurements show that the recovery rate now reaches 60%.