World Sailing joins Sports for Climate Action movement at COP24

World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, added its voice to the COP24 United Nations Climate Conference by presenting their Sustainability Agenda 2030 targets in Katowice, Poland.

World leaders at COP24 are preparing to implement the Paris Agreement to limit the rise of global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and World Sailing joins the International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 and other sporting federations in signing up to a new framework that will commit the organisations to reduce carbon emissions from their activities.
 
“Sports contribution to climate change is not insignificant and following a wide consultation for our sustainability strategy it was clear from sailors across the world that they wanted to see action taken on the subject,” said World Sailing Sustainability Programme Manager, Dan Reading.
 
“As such, working with key partners and the marine industry we will be measuring, reducing and eventually compensating our carbon emissions from our activities. A number of sailing events already do this and we want to help the sport apply this in a uniform way.”
 
At the widely attended Sports for Climate Action session at COP, delegates heard how climate change increases severe weather which reduces participation time, safety and negatively impacts grassroots infrastructure all of which contributes to increases in insurance premiums.        
 
Athletes across sport including Olympic gold medallists Santiago Lange (ARG) and Hannah Mills (GBR) from sailing addressed the audience from a video all encouraging decisive action.
 
World Sailing’s Council unanimously agreed Sustainability Agenda 2030 at the 2018 Mid-Year Meeting and World Sailing. These include:
 

• Be carbon neutral (scope 2) by 2022 for the organisation
• Achieve 50% reduction in carbon emissions (vs 2019) by 2024 for the company.
• Reduce reliance on fossil fuelled propulsion for support boats by 50% by 2024
• All official boats used at World Sailing events will not be solely reliant on fossil fuels by 2025

 
More details about the conference and the framework can be found here: https://cop24.gov.pl/.  
 
About COP 24
 
COP24 is the informal name for the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
 
The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC.
 
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme body of the UNFCCC Convention. It consists of the representatives of the Parties to the Convention. It holds its sessions every year. The COP takes decisions which are necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of the Convention and regularly reviews the implementation of these provisions.
 
In accordance with a decision of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention (COP22) in Marrakesh in November 2016, the successive climate summit will be held in Poland. Poland was selected to host this event within the framework of the Eastern European Group (EEG).
 
Poland will hold the Presidency of the Climate Convention for the third time.
 
COP24 takes place from 2-14 December 2018, in Katowice, Poland.