Boat International US Edition – June 2019

boatinternational.com• 062019

InOctober2018,actorGillianAnderson

deliveredapetitionofmorethan350,000

signaturestotheUK’sForeign&

CommonwealthOffice,demandingthe

creationoftheAntarcticOceanSanctuary,

which,at700,000squaremiles,wouldbe

theworld’slargestmarineprotectedarea.

Consensuswasneededbyall 24 members

oftheCommissionfortheConservationof

AntarcticMarineLivingResources.Intheend,

Russia,ChinaandNorwayvotedagainstit.As

FridaBengtsson,wholedtheGreenpeace

campaign,saidatthetime,“Thiswasan

historicopportunitytocreatethelargest

protectedareaonEarth,safeguardingwildlife,

tacklingclimatechangeandimprovingthe

healthofourglobaloceans.Twenty-two

delegationscametonegotiateingoodfaith

but,instead,proposalsforurgentmarine

protectionwerederailedbyinterventionsthat

barelyengagedwiththescience.”Butevenif

thecampaignfailed,itsignificantlyraised

publicawareness:45,000peoplewereinspired

toemailtheCEOofUKretailerHolland&

Barrett,askingthehealth-foodchainto

removekrillfromitsproducts.Itdid,

prompting 85 percentofretailersthatstock

suchproductstofollowsuit.Todate,the

petitionhasattracted2.8millionsignatures.

Thepushto#ProtectAntarcticcontinues.

GreenpeaceUK

foritsProtecttheAntarcticcampaign

RUNNER

UP

ise totheknowledgethatthe“world’soceansarethe

lifeblood of The Ocean Race,” the organizers of

the 2017-18 Volvo-sponsored contest, a triennial

45,000-nautical-mile round-the-world yacht race

for boats with professional crews of between seven and 11,

pledged to do everything they could “to inspire sailors, race fans,

partners, stakeholders, host cities and sponsors around the

world to join us in our quest for cleaner seas.”

Hence the Ocean Race Sustainability Programme. This strove

to minimize the footprint of the teams (which were compelled to

sign up to the United Nations’ #CleanSeas pledge) and their

boatsandsponsors,nottomentionthe94,200corporateguests

theyentertainedatthedozenRaceVillages,wheresingle-use

plasticswerediscouraged,thusobviatingtheuseofalmost

400,000plasticbottles.Greatcarewastakentosourcefoodand

materialssustainably,toconservewaterandenergyandreduce

waste.Vendorswerecompelledtoservefoodanddrinkin

reusablewashable,oratleastcompostable,serviceware.Efforts

werealsomadetoraiseawarenessofthedangersposedtothe

oceansbyplasticamongthe2.5millionpeoplewhocametowatch

the2017-18raceaswellaswiththevastglobaldigitalaudience

whofollowedit,generating1.9billionsocial-mediaimpressions.

Anonlineeducationprogramaimedatschoolsaboutplastic

pollutionandwhatcouldbedonetocombatitwasaccessedby

114,000childrenin 40 countries.Andapracticalguideforthe

organizersofsportsandothersuchpublicevents on how to

minimize the use of single-use plastic was produced (for

instance, using reusable bungee or Velcro straps rather than

cable ties, and coffee urns rather than espresso machines that

rely on capsules, banning balloons, etc.).

The race itself was also used to advance global understanding

of plastic pollution by, in effect, turning all seven boats into

research vessels charged with gathering water samples and

meteorological data from places not often accessible to scientists.

The driving force behind the program is Anne-Cécile Turner,

founder of the sustainability consultancy Blueshift, which has

ledtheOceanRaceSustainabilityProgrammesince2016.“The

Raceofferedapowerfulanduniqueglobalplatformtoexplore

theissuesandsolutionstothedevastatingplasticcrisis

impactinguponourseas,”shesays,“gainingglobalmedia

attentionandbringingtogethertheworldsofbusiness,sport,

scienceandgovernmentthroughawide-reachingcampaign

includingOceanSummits,ourscienceprogram,aneducation

programtoinspirethenextgeneration.”

Leadingbyexample,shecitesthewaythey“walkedthetalk”

bystrivingtoeliminatesingle-useplasticfromtheRaceVillages.

“Asaglobalsportingevent,weminimizedourownfootprintand

educatedandempoweredthemillionsofpeopletheracetouched

sothattogetherwewouldleavealastinglegacyforthefuture

healthoftheoceans.”

Public Awareness Award

The Ocean Race

Sustainability Programme

(^2019)
OCEAN
AWARDS
THE WINNERS
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