Oceanracing Aktuell 2015

Aktion zur Verschmutzung der Meere von Volvo Ocean Race
Veranstaltung in Newport

May 15, 2015
A call to action

Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad and Team Alvimedica skipper Charlie Enright have been invited to address a United Nations (UN) convention later this year focusing on the growing problem of rubbish in the oceans (full story below).
Ocean Conservancy / Elyse Butler Download
Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race
A call to action | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15
Amory Ross / Team Alvimedica / Volvo Ocean Race

- Delegates to Marine Debris summit hear of growing problem - Frostad and Enright invited to address United Nations convention - We must all help solve this, says Volvo Group sustainability chief

NEWPORT, Rhode Island, USA – Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad and Team Alvimedica skipper Charlie Enright have been invited to address a United Nations (UN) convention later this year focusing on the growing problem of rubbish in the oceans.

The invitation was extended to them by a UN delegate attending the Volvo Group’s Ocean Summit on Marine Debris here on Friday, where Frostad and Enright were speakers.
Ambassador Eden Charles, of Trinidad and Tobago, said Enright and Frostad would be ideal witnesses to the UN on the increasing rise of rubbish to be found in the oceans around the world.
“Our challenge is not only to bring this issue to the attention of the world’s nations, but to get regulations to clean up the oceans implemented by all of them,” said the Ambassador.
“To hear a current sailor speak on this issue with first-hand knowledge, plus the Race’s head, will be a very strong message indeed to our convention in New York.”

Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean

Foto: Ocean Conservancy / Elyse Butler

Ocean Conservancy / Skip Nall

Both Frostad and Enright, 30, who is the youngest skipper in the Volvo Ocean Race, said they would be delighted to address the convention, which is likely to take place in November this year and represents some 170 nations.
Delegates and media at Friday’s packed Summit heard from a list of speakers who represent all sides of the issue, including academia, national and local government, pressure groups, philanthropic agencies, and the corporate world.
“Marine debris is negatively affecting the oceans and oceanic life, and it’s clear that we all have a responsibility to help institute changes,” said Henry Sténson, executive vice president of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Affairs for the Volvo Group, who welcomed delegates to the three-and-a-half hour discussions.

Enright gave some graphic examples of how choked up with rubbish some of the areas the 2014-15 race has visited have become.
Describing the Malacca Strait, which divides the Indonesian island of Sumatra from Malaysia, he commented: “It was just disgusting – you almost felt like you could walk across that stretch of water on the trash there at one stage.”
He said that the Strait was by no means the only example of such a littering of all kind of debris in the oceans.

The Rhode Islander said he believed young, round-the-world sailors like himself could play a vital role as witnesses to the issue since they sailed through waters rarely, if ever, seen by others.
Delegates also heard from the influential Rhode Island Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse, who speaks regularly on marine conservancy and other environmental topics at national government level in the USA and who has also helped introduce new legislation to conserve coastal areas.
“Debris is a serious problem for marine ecosystems and coastal economies,” Senator Whitehouse said.
“In Rhode Island, I’ve seen first-hand how it can foul our coastline and hamper economic development and recreation.
"The Volvo Ocean Racers have seen how far offshore this pollution reaches. I’ve also seen how partnerships between government, private industry and motivated citizens can deal with this problem.”

Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island, spoke on how the state was committed to cleaning its own coasts while Wendy Schmidt, a leading environmental philanthropist who is president of the The Schmidt Family Foundation, commented on how private foundations are helping tackle the problem with well targeted investment.
The event was hosted by Professor Dennis Nixon, a leading Rhode Island-based academic based in the state university.
After hearing the warning from delegate, Dr Sandra Whitehouse, senior policy advisor for Ocean Conservancy, that, left unchecked, there could be one tonne of plastic in the oceans for every three tonnes of fish by 2025, he suggested a 15-year deadline to reverse the trend.
“The sailors have given us a call to action and we ignore it at our peril,” he said.
Summit attendees also heard from Bj?rn Lyrvall, Ambassador of Sweden to the USA; Catherine Novelli, Under-Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, USA State Department; Dr. Lisa Svensson, Sweden’s Ambassador for Ocean, Seas and Freshwater; Kersti Strandqvist, senior vice president for Sustainability, SCA, a leading global hygiene and forest products company; and Daniel Wild, Head of Sustainability Investing Research and Development, RobecoSAM, an international investment company with a specific focus on sustainability investments.

APRIL 23, 2015
A ‘growing catastrophe’

The Ocean Summit on Marine Debris during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, next month has attracted a stellar list of expert speakers to bring attention to a ‘growing catastrophe’ (full story below).

- Ocean Summit on Marine Debris in Newport stopover
- Stellar cast of speakers to highlight increasing problem

ALICANTE, Spain, April 22 – The Ocean Summit on Marine Debris during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, next month has attracted a stellar list of expert speakers to bring attention to a ‘growing catastrophe’.

The summit will take place on May 15, and is sponsored by Volvo Group, The Embassy of Sweden, the U.S. State Department, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Sail Newport, which is hosting the stopover.

Among the speakers will be Team Alvimedica skipper, Charlie Enright, who has seen for himself the trash which has been dumped in the oceans on the route of the 38,739-nautical mile round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race.
"Our oceans are our race courses and, for the better part of this last year, they’ve been my home. You don’t leave pallets, nets, and plastic bottles lying around your home, so why should we leave them in the ocean?" said Enright.

Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race and a four-time competitor, said he is increasingly concerned about the problem, which has grown significantly since he first contested the event in the early 1990s.
"Our biggest challenge in fighting the pollution of the oceans is ignorance. I am honoured to be part of the Ocean Summit to help bring more attention to a growing catastrophe that is the responsibility of all of us to reverse,” he said.
“Marine debris is a significant problem that has a direct impact on oceans, aquatic life and ultimately human health,” added Henry Sténson, executive vice president of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Affairs for the Volvo Group.
“One of the core values of the Volvo Group is environmental care, and we are pleased to be one of the sponsors of the Ocean Summit on Marine Debris in order to help bring attention to this important global environmental issue.”

Summit attendees will hear addresses from Frostad and Sténson; Bj?rn Lyrvall, Ambassador of Sweden to the USA; American Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; Dr. Sandra Whitehouse, senior policy advisor for Ocean Conservancy; Catherine Novelli, Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, U.S. State Department; Dr. Lisa Svensson, Sweden’s Ambassador for Oceans, Seas and Freshwater; Rhode Island Governor, Gina Raimondo; Wendy Schmidt, president of The Schmidt Family Foundation; Kersti Stranqvist, senior vice president for Sustainability, SCA; and Daniel Wild, head of Sustainability Investing Research and Development, RobecoSAM, an international investment company with a specific focus on sustainability investments.

Professor Dennis Nixon, Rhode Island Sea Grant Director for the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, will open and close the event.
Frostad will introduce a brief film about marine debris, and Enright will narrate it.
For further information, please contact John Mies, Volvo Group North America, phone 336-543-9094, email john.mies@volvo.com.