Race to Restore

The Ocean Race had a big ambition to make the 2022-23 round-the-world race climate positive. And as the toughest test of a team in sport, we knew that the biggest challenges need a great team to make any ambition possible.

We met our target of reducing our race organiser greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by up to 75% compared with the last race, and working with our race teams, partners, suppliers, and host cities, to reduce the GHGs of their participation in the Race, we also achieved 74% reduction. 

We come together to play our part in the Race to Zero (net zero emissions by 2040). 

Race to Restore is our collaboration to balance our collective unavoidable GHG impacts. We hoped to move to a 'climate positive' state, where more GHGs are drawn down, via blue carbon projects, than the race emits.

In a true multi-stakeholder collaboration, our working group included race premier partner 11th Hour Racing, our global logistics partner GAC Pindar, boat class IMOCA, race teams including 11th Hour Racing Team, Team Malizia and The Austrian Race Project, our host city’s stopover sustainability co-ordinators, and official hospitality agency ATPI. The group was supported by technical experts such as Verra and IOC UNESCO.

Quick Facts

• A total reduction of 75% was estimated and acheived for race organiser GHGs for the 2022-23 race. Download the race's GHG Strategy from the Knowledge Centre. Read the GHG Report or download it also at the Knowledge Centre.
• Ocean Live Park globally also aimed to be powered by 100% renewable energy. We achieved 73% renewable energy onsite and purchased 'energy attribute certificates' to source renewable energy in each destination. 

Balancing Our Impacts

• We defined principles and criteria for projects we will invest in that drawdown carbon on our behalf.
• These include certified (e.g. by the Verified Carbon Standard, Plan Vivo) and ‘quantified’ blue carbon projects.
• Supporting ‘quantified’ projects is included as this is direct action in conserving and restoring ecosystems, alleviating poverty and supporting communities. Our contributions help projects to scale, to graduate to certification where they can generate carbon credits.

Guest Experience

• Accounting for an estimated 40% of the race’s overall GHG inventory, the race's, team's and partner’s invited guest programme had Climate Positive Guest Experience. programme.
• Through the Race to Restore programme, hosts balanced their guest’s GHG impacts: air & ground travel, boat activities, food, and accommodation.
• Hosts using our official hospitality agency ATPI were automatically enrolled into the programme.

Sailing and Suppliers

• Our industry collaboration on Sustainable Boat Building had a key focus on identifying and reducing the GHG impacts of boat building.
• IMOCA (boat class), teams and boat builders were also working together to identify ‘insetting’, where investment in the supply chain can accelerate GHG reductions.
• Helly Hansen, our official clothing supplier, is an active participant in sustainable apparel industry collaboration and is working on the GHG estimations for each item in the official The Ocean Race range, to understand the impacts.

Our Approach

Once we reduced all we could, our residual and currently unavoidable GHG impacts are balanced, through investing in projects which draw down carbon on our behalf. 

We focus on 'nature-based solutions' and particularly on what’s known as ‘blue carbon’: mangroves, seagrass and kelp forests are examples. Read more about blue carbon.

Our portfolio has an anticipated 50% certified and 50% quantified projects. We choose a range of projects, locations and project maturity. 

Project Portfolios

Currently our portfolio includes four blue carbon projects:

PAKISTAN - Delta Blue Carbon Project [CERTIFIED: VCS]

We have begun our investment, anchoring the Race to Restore with an ambitious and large blue carbon project in the Sindh region of Pakistan - Delta Blue Carbon. This VCS accredited project has many community co-benefits, particularly clean water access and employment.

MADAGASCAR - Tahiry Honko [CERTIFIED: PLAN VIVO + QUANTIFIED]

We have previously supported Blue Venture’s Tahiry Honko project in Madagascar and we are in discussions to include more support, both for verified Plan Vivo offsets and contributions to their quantified projects. The project site is located in southwest Madagascar at Bay of Assassins within the Locally Managed Marine Area Velondriake, and promotes locally led conservation, reforestation and sustainable use of over 1,200 hectares of mangroves, alongside initiatives for building alternative livelihoods, including sea cucumber and seaweed farming and mangrove beekeeping.

KENYA - Mikoko Pamoja & Vanga Projects [CERTIFIED: PLAN VIVO]

We’re also including a Kenyan-based project Mikoko Pamoja and the sister project Vanga both verified by Plan Vivo. These projects have multiple co-benefits including water and sanitation, education, relieving poverty and environmental conservation.

PHILLIPINES - Malizia Mangrove Park [QUANTIFIED]

Malizia Mangrove Park also forms part of our portfolio, based in the Philippines, with the incredible mangrove restoration project. The aim is to plant 1 000 000 mangroves and they are half-way there. The project’s carbon drawdown benefits are scientifically estimated and quantified

MEXICO, INDONESIA, KENYA - Seatrees [QUANTIFIED]

11th Hour Racing balance their unavoidable GHG emissions through investing in blue carbon projects which have quanitifable carbon benefits while also restoring habitats, and working with groups that focus on restoration, conservation and supporting communities. Their projects are facilitated through Sea Trees by Sustainable Surf. Find out more.

Project Selection Principles

We apply strong principles when selecting projects in the Race to Restore portfolio. These reflect accepted good practice in the voluntary offsetting market, and also consider the context of the race, our teams, partners and collective values:

We prioritise nature-based carbon removal projects, with a focus on 'blue carbon’ solutions.

We prioritise certified carbon removal projects.

We support ‘quantified’ blue carbon projects which meet our criteria and principles, and prioritise these projects over certified carbon reduction projects which do not meet our principles.

Projects must meet the ‘additionality’ rule - the carbon removals must be 'additional' to what would have happened if the funding was not available through the carbon credit or contribution mechanism.

Projects must have a high degree of local community involvement in management and implementation.

People engaged to work on the project are paid, or a community agreement is made for volunteer labour with earnings into a community chest which is transparently managed.

Projects must have sustainable development co-benefits.

The project destination must have plastic pollution avoidance and clean-up programmes and policies.

Definitions

Certified These voluntary carbon offset projects have been independently certified to meet the requirements of standards (such as Verra's: VCS and CCB) or others such as Gold Standard, or Plan Vivo, all of which have sustainable development co-benefits. These standards have rules, requirements, and administrative systems for accounting, quantifying, monitoring, reporting, verifying, certifying, and registering offset projects and credits. And importantly credits are ‘retired’ meaning they are claimed against an organisation's carbon footprint, and taken out of circulation to ensure it can only be claimed once.

Quantified These are restoration and carbon storage projects which also have sustainable development co-benefits. These projects have not yet been through full independent certification and have more risk attached to the carbon benefit allocation. This is because the project hasn’t yet been certified under independent standards, which is actually a significant barrier for many project operators. Contributions help projects get to the stage where they have the resources to undergo verification.

Why Quanitified Projects?

Blue carbon projects make sense for The Ocean Race. These projects help to restore ocean health, and have climate and community benefits. It’s perfect for us!

Getting a project to certification takes a lot of resources, time, expertise, perseverance and a fair amount of red tape. Coupled with blue carbon projects being extremely popular at the moment, means finding certified carbon removal blue carbon offset projects quite hard.

During this transition period (we’ve been advised it will be the next five years or so) we have decided to take a little tack in our approach to balancing our unavoidable GHG impacts.

Alongside verified blue carbon offsets as the cornerstone of our ‘carbon balancing portfolio’ we will support blue carbon and restoration projects which are ‘quantified’ to be drawing down carbon. 

Supporting these projects also gives the essential resources needed to bring these projects to full verification status. 

Our criteria for ‘quantified’ project selection:

Projects meet the ‘additionality’ rule of offsetting.

The project developer has capacity and intention to implement blue carbon/restoration projects to full certification, with VCS and CCB, Plan Vivo, Gold Standard or equivalent.

There is robust scientific measurement in place to formally ‘quantify’ the carbon sequestration estimates.

The project is at low risk from being co-opted into future REDD+/avoided deforestation/conservation carbon credits, NDCs or similar ‘double sale’ or ‘double accounting’.

The project developer gives us assurance that if the project becomes verified, within five years, our contributions are advanced to verified offset credits and ‘retired’ in our name.

The project has community and government support.

The project can be on community, private or government owned land, land ownership must be confirmed, and formal permission granted for the project’s implementation.

The project must have confirmation from the owner that the land and project are protected for the intended duration of the project.

What GHGs Are We Balancing?

The GHGs attributable to the race come from many sources and are ‘owned’ by various stakeholders. The Ocean Race 1973 SLU takes ownership of race organiser GHGs and engages teams and partners in likewise taking ownership of GHGs related to their participation in the race, including their guests.

Included are flights, ground travel, freight, food, accomodation, fuel in boats, plant and helicopters. We track GHGs from waste to landfill, and are considering the GHG impacts of apparel and technical equipment. 

Boat construction GHGs are the responsibility of teams and some teams are tracking this.

 

Our GHG Strategy

During the 2017-18 race, we undertook detailed analysis of race-related GHGs to reveal where our biggest impacts are and to guide us in our reductions. Read our GHG Emissions Strategy, which has been formed off our findings.

As a signatory of the UN’s Race to Zero and Sports for Climate Action, we’re committed to halving our GHGs and contributing to a Net Zero world by 2040.

We collect climate and oceanographic data from boats during the race as part of our Science Programme, and are actively supporting the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, collaborating with IOC UNESCO, and other scientific institutions, experts, and programmes. Data will contribute to the IOC-led Global Ocean Observing System and other organisations who are tracking key ocean threats, such as marine debris, microplastics and acidification (a key indicator of climate change).

Race boats have a minimum requirement of 20% renewable energy generation onboard. Our Sustainable Boat Building workshops engage the industry to measure GHG impacts and share best practice to accelerate reductions.

Our Ocean Our Hero is a special climate change-focussed module, as part of The Ocean Race Learning for kids and youth. 

Our efforts extend to engaging and influencing policy within our sphere of influence. The Ocean Race Summits bring the ocean + climate nexus into focus at these high level events, and Relay4Nature visits the world’s biodiversity, climate and ocean conferences and summits to bring ocean + climate change to the top of the agenda. We attended COP 26 in Glasgow, find out more.