ROCKWOOL and One Ocean Foundation officially kicked off their multi-year collaboration on Thursday, with a packed launch event in Italy.
Taking place at Fraglia Vela Riva, overlooking Lake Garda, the launch event saw Denmark SailGP Team driver Nicolai Sehested joined by ROCKWOOL CEO Jens Birgersson, Senior Vice President Mirella Vitale, plus One Ocean Foundation President Riccardo Bonadeo and Secretary-General Jan Pachner.
The partnership, which connects world-class sport, global business and cutting-edge science, sees One Ocean Foundation become the Race For The Future partner of Denmark SailGP Team presented by ROCKWOOL, as it competes in one of sport’s most climate-friendly leagues, SailGP.
Accelerating solutions
“ROCKWOOL is delighted to join forces with One Ocean Foundation in this exciting and important collaboration, focused around the protection and restoration of our ocean,” says Mirella Vitale, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communication and Public Affairs at ROCKWOOL.
“We will use our global platform with SailGP and the Denmark SailGP Team to raise awareness and increase understanding around ocean health and the challenges facing our seas – and to accelerate solutions to protect it”.
The Danish team will race for purpose in SailGP Season 3, with a renewed focus on ‘building a better future, regenerating our ocean’. The foiling F50 boat – capable of hitting speeds of up to 100 km/hr – features One Ocean Foundation branding.
Nicolai Sehested, driver of Denmark SailGP Team presented by ROCKWOOL, explains: “As Danish sailors, sustainability is in our DNA, and we are passionate about protecting our ocean.
“Our ambition for this partnership with One Ocean Foundation is to set a new standard in sport by significantly reducing our footprint as we go racing around the world, using science to drive positive impact, and inspire and engage others to take action”.
Creating positive impact
In 2022, SailGP launched a ground-breaking Impact League initiative, which is a second ranking running alongside the main championship, and sees all teams scored on their positive actions to reduce footprint and help accelerate innovation and inclusivity in the sport.
In Season 3, One Ocean Foundation will work closely with Denmark SailGP Team athletes and shore crew to help track, analyse and reduce footprint across team operations.
“It’s really exciting for us to partner with a world-leader in ROCKWOOL, and to be able to use the incredible SailGP platform through this collaboration with Denmark SailGP Team,” adds Jan Pachner, Secretary-General at One Ocean Foundation.
“We know that the power of sport to showcase these important ocean health issues is unrivalled, and we look forward to helping Denmark SailGP Team and ROCKWOOL set a new standard and lead by example over the coming seasons.”
Connecting sport, business and science
Additionally, Denmark SailGP Team’s world-class athletes will conduct a series of scientific experiments as the circuit moves around the planet in Season 3 – visiting four continents in 2022 and early 2023.
The sampling exercises, which will be conducted from the F50 in the heart of the SailGP race tracks around the planet, will help to inform a first-ever global ocean health map of SailGP venues, to provide a real-time snapshot of the state of our seas – and help us to better understand how we can protect and restore them.
“Despite more than 70 percent of Earth being covered by water, we still don’t know enough about our ocean – and you can’t protect something you don’t understand”, explains Sandro Carniel, Head of Research Division at the Institute of Marine Science, and part of the One Ocean Foundation’s Scientific Committee.
“This global scientific effort undertaken by the Denmark SailGP Team athletes will help us to not only better understand the state of our oceans in a number of diverse and iconic venues, but also help us to forecast future challenges, and identify innovative, locally-relevant and effective solutions.”
Empowering business to understand its impact
Later this month, One Ocean Foundation will launch the Ocean Disclosure Initiative – a unique framework designed to help business understand and reduce its impact on our seas.
The criteria, which has been developed in collaboration with the likes of McKinsey and Co and SDA Bocconi School of Management, will deliver a comprehensive, ocean-focused and science-based approach for industry sectors to analyse, understand and reduce their ocean impact.
“It’s important that the global business community sets a standard, and plays its part in ensuring the health of our seas,” continues Vitale.
“ROCKWOOL supports the Ocean Disclosure Initiative and will work closely with One Ocean Foundation to implement the ODI across our business areas. We will also encourage our partners and networks to do the same”.
SailGP Season 3 kicked off in Bermuda on 14-15 May, and will take in more than 10 iconic cities around the world in an expanded calendar. Next up, the foiling F50 catamarans will head to Chicago Navy Pier for the United States Sail Grand Prix on 18-19 June.
