The seven boats collected new scientific data during the nine-month fully-crewed, round the world yacht race. This helped increase scientific understanding of the impacts plastic
pollution and other human activity are having on ocean health. The award was presented during a ceremony held at the boot Düsseldorf International Boat Show.
Panel judge Frank Schweikert, Chairman of the German Marine
Foundation, said: “The programme was groundbreaking and set new
standards in global awareness of the dramatic levels of pollution in the
oceans. “This was a perfect symbiosis between water sports and science." Anne-Cécile Turner, Sustainability Programme Leader, accepted the
award at the ceremony, attended by Prince Albert II of Monaco who was
representing his foundation.
She said: “The Science Programme was an innovative and collaborative
effort involving sailors, scientists, partners and a whole host of
others concerned about the ocean and keen to advance our understanding
of the problems it faces. “By working together we were able achieve the objectives of
educating, innovating and leaving a lasting legacy and are proud that
this has been recognised by the Ocean Tribute judges.”
This is the third win for the programme after it already proved
successful in the ‘Sports CSR Campaign of the Year’ category at the
International Sports Awards and in the ‘Best Corporate Campaign or
Initiative in Sport for Good’ category at the Beyond Sport Awards. An expert scientific consortium, funded by Volvo Cars, used cutting
edge technology to build state of the art equipment to capture the most
relevant ocean data.
This included information on the global spread of microplastics, how a
changing climate is affecting ocean health and, through the deployment
of drifter buoys, ways oceanographic data can improve our understanding
of the link between the ocean and weather patterns. The scientific analysis was spearheaded by GEOMAR Institute for Ocean
Research in Kiel, Germany, funded by the Cluster of Excellence Future
Ocean.
The data has been uploaded to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) database where scientists are able to access it
open source. Other oceanographic data is being utilised by the World
Meteorological Organisation and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission.
After the Turn the Tide on Plastic and team AkzoNobel boats collected
seawater samples, 86 in total during the race, they were analysed for
microplastic concentrations in the GEOMAR laboratory using a powerful
Raman spectrophotometer. Studies found 93% of those analysed contained
levels of the particles.
Stuart Templar, Head of Sustainability, Volvo Cars, said: “Volvo Cars
is proud to have supported the Science Programme, which has produced an
unprecedented picture of the health of our oceans. In particular, this
clearly shows the extent of the global problem of micro-plastic
pollution.
"Decisive action needs to be taken, including by business. That is
why Volvo Cars has made a number of pledges during the Race, including
removing single use plastic by the end of 2019 and ensuring that at
least 25% of the plastic in new Volvos is made from recycled material by
2025.”
Todd McGuire, 11th Hour Racing Program Director: “It is wonderful to
see how the Science Program is gaining international recognition and
applause, extending the legacy and vision of the race in relation to
plastic pollution and ocean health.
“Utilizing sport to gather important scientific data is quite a novel
concept, and the work carried out by the teams involved in the Volvo
Ocean Race is helping fill a critical gap of information in very remote
areas which would be otherwise difficult and very costly for scientific
surveys to reach. Moreover, it is important to highlight that the data
collected by these samplings is shared with international open-source
databases. We are proud to support these efforts that align with the
mission and strategy of 11th Hour Racing, which is highly invested in
solutions, innovation and positive impact.”
The Science Programme formed part of a broader Sustainability
Programme, in collaboration with Founding Principal Sustainability
Partner 11th Hour Racing, Principal Partner the Mirpuri Foundation, and
our other main partners, Volvo, AkzoNobel, Bluewater, Stena Recycling
and Ocean Family Foundation.
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