Antarctica21 Publishes Its First Sustainability Report

Antarctica21 has published its first Sustainability Report, bringing a more measured account of its operations to the conversation about responsible Antarctic travel. Titled Ambassadors of the White Continent, it covers the company’s environmental, social and economic impact during its 2025-26 fiscal year, according to Cruise Industry News, which reported the publication on September 15, 2026.

The report’s significance lies in the baseline it establishes. For travelers weighing the responsibilities that accompany a polar expedition, it offers specific measures of the company’s carbon footprint, fuel choices, shoreside energy use and local spending. These are distinct parts of the operation, and the report is most useful when they are read separately rather than gathered into a single, reassuring claim of sustainability.

A Sustainability Baseline Extending to 2033

According to Cruise Industry News, the report was prepared in accordance with GRI Universal Standards 2021 and incorporates SASB indicators applicable to the cruise sector. It reports on 104 indicators aligned with Antarctica21’s Sustainability Policy. That policy includes a roadmap running to 2033, the company’s 30th anniversary year.

Those details give the publication a longer horizon than a review of one expedition season. A baseline provides a reference point against which subsequent reporting can be read; the roadmap establishes the period over which the company intends to pursue its policy. For a prospective guest, the useful distinction is between documenting current performance and demonstrating improvement over time. This first report establishes the former.

“This new Sustainability Report is a tangible proof of our commitment to operating our expeditions and our business with excellence, responsibility, transparency, and a long-term vision,” said Verónica Peragallo, CEO of Antarctica21, according to Cruise Industry News.

The full report and an executive summary are available through links in the Cruise Industry News article. Readers seeking to examine the company’s reporting in greater depth can therefore move beyond the article’s selected figures to the documents themselves.

Carbon Offsets and Operational Changes

Antarctica21 reported a total carbon footprint of 6,878 tCO2e across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 during the 2025-26 season. According to Cruise Industry News, the company said that footprint was fully offset through certified credits tied to renewable energy projects in Chile.

The wording matters. This is a reported footprint accompanied by an offsetting claim, not a statement that the expeditions produced no emissions. For travelers assessing the environmental case for a booking, the footprint remains an important figure in its own right.

Alongside those credits, the report identifies changes in the equipment and facilities used to support expeditions. Cruise Industry News reported that Antarctica21 completed a second consecutive season operating its Zodiacs on e-fuels, describing the company as the world’s first operator to use synthetic fuel in Antarctica.

The second season of use is the more useful detail for a traveler evaluating the operation: the initiative is presented as an established practice, not merely a future intention. It should nevertheless retain its stated boundaries. The reported e-fuel use applies to the Zodiacs; it is not a claim about every vessel or every part of an Antarctica21 journey.

On shore, solar panels at Explorers House, the company’s expedition center in Punta Arenas, covered 44 percent of the building’s energy consumption, according to Cruise Industry News. That figure describes a particular facility. Read alongside the Zodiac initiative and the carbon inventory, it helps distinguish a building-level energy measure from fuel use in the field and company-wide emissions accounting.

The Magallanes Region’s Share of the Expedition Economy

The report also looks beyond environmental measures. Antarctica21 reported that 25.4 percent of all supplier spending went to businesses in the Magallanes Region, while the Antarctica21 Foundation reached 4,000 direct beneficiaries during the season, according to Cruise Industry News.

These figures bring the people and businesses connected to the operation into view. The supplier-spending measure addresses where a share of the company’s purchasing went. The foundation figure describes the reach of its activities. Neither should be substituted for the other: commercial participation and foundation work are different expressions of a company’s relationship with a region.

For conservation-minded travelers, that distinction deserves attention. A responsible-travel assessment need not stop at fuel and electricity. The report’s inclusion of regional purchasing allows prospective guests to consider how the expedition business engages with the Magallanes Region’s economy, while keeping the foundation’s reported reach as a separate social measure.

Reading the Report Before Booking

The strongest use of Ambassadors of the White Continent is as a document to examine, not a seal of approval. Its reporting separates several questions that are too easily blurred: how much carbon the company accounts for, how it offsets that footprint, where it has introduced operational changes and how it records regional participation.

For a traveler considering Antarctica21, those distinctions offer a firmer basis for inquiry than an unqualified promise of low-impact exploration. The report begins an accountability record. Its enduring value will rest in the ability to return to that baseline and assess the company’s progress against its stated roadmap.