Fincantieri has announced that it has been awarded an A minus score for its environmental programs by CDP, previously known as the Carbon Closure Project, moving up from its B score in 2019. The scores range from A to D.

According to Fincantieri, CDP gathers and processes data voluntarily submitted by publicly traded companies, assessing both their performances and strategies. The company said furthermore that the ranking is a useful tool to get ahead of regulatory and policy changes, identify and tackle growing risks, and find new opportunities for action. Over 500 major investors, with overall assets exceeding 100 billion dollars, have reportedly requested companies to inform the market about their sustainability stance through CDP.

Fincantieri stated that it has also been confirmed to be in the highest range, that is, “Advanced,” within the Vigeo Eiris ranking, an agency that assesses the integration of social, environmental and public factors in the context of sustainability, and that it ranks first among its reference peers.

These results come only a few days after the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, publicly commended Fincantieri at the European Hydrogen Week held at the end of November, by saying that “Fincantieri represents an excellence in the new hydrogen economy”.

Over the years, the Fincantieri Group has carried out many decarbonization research projects to investigate and test the feasibility of hydrogen technologies and fuel cells on board ships, resorting to both its own resources and government-funded research and innovation programs. The latest project is ZEUS – Zero Emission Ultimate Ship, an experimental fuel-cell powered 170-ton, 25-meter vessel. Currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia and expected to be completed in 2021, ZEUS will be the first of its kind and it is one of the determining factors that led Fincantieri to be acknowledged internationally in this context.

The experience generated by the Zeus will also be research toward the improvement of environmental sustainability of cruise ships, mega yachts, ferries and other vessels.

A second target is said to be research is to develop alternative energy generation aboard cruise ships.