NZSailGP announces climate change initiative with new partnership with Gen Less
by James Rigby/NZSailGP 16 Dec 2021 12:59 PST
17 December 2021
New Zealand SailGP Team co-helmed by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in action during a practice session ahead of Australia Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG. 15 December © David Gray/SailGP
The New Zealand SailGP Team is encouraging New Zealanders to be world leaders in clean and clever energy use as part of a new partnership with Gen Less.
Backed by EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), Gen Less is a platform that brings all New Zealanders together to live more with less energy, and take positive climate action.
In partnering with Gen Less until the end of SailGP Season 2, the New Zealand SailGP Team will join its "Right Side of History" campaign: shining a spotlight on Kiwi individuals, organisations and communities that are progressing their decarbonisation journey.
EECA Group Manager of Marketing and Communications, Jo Bye, said: "We are proud to be aligned with the New Zealand SailGP Team. This partnership is based on a shared goal of reducing energy-related emissions and demonstrating the collective action being taken on climate change.
"Around 40 per cent of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions come from energy use and by making better choices about how we use energy in our everyday lives, we can reduce these emissions and help fight the effects of climate change."
In April this year, the New Zealand SailGP Team became the first and only sports team in New Zealand to sign the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, which aims to use the unifying power of sports to drive climate awareness - and action.
Climate action is at the heart of SailGP's?Race for The Future?strategy; measuring, reducing and continually challenging its operations to reduce its impact. It has set a target of 55 percent reduction by 2025 and contributes to UN renewable energy projects.
The New Zealand SailGP Team has also cut its own carbon footprint by reducing the number of shipping containers required, minimising international travel, becoming more efficient with chase boat fuel usage and implementing an energy-efficiency plan at events.
The New Zealand Team currently leads SailGP's?Impact League, a second leaderboard which runs alongside the Season Championship to monitor the sustainability performance of teams.
New Zealand SailGP Team co-CEO Peter Burling said: "Climate change is the biggest issue of our time and meeting the scale of this challenge requires urgent action from everyone. As a team we have a great opportunity to step up and use our platform for good to inspire our fellow Kiwis.
"By collaborating with Gen Less, we're encouraging Kiwis to think about the daily choices we all make and the opportunities to be more conscious about our energy use. The Impact League has been a great example of the small decisions we make as a team adding up to have a big impact, and we're hoping Kiwis will embrace the same approach and find different ways to use less energy."
As part of its commitment to a better planet, the New Zealand SailGP Team also competes to support its Race for the Future charity partner Live Ocean, the marine conservation foundation founded by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. The foundation has a focus on ocean protection and restoration and partners with exceptional local talent whose work has global implications for the protection of the ocean and the life in it.
The New Zealand SailGP Team co-CEO Blair Tuke said: "The nexus between ocean and climate is clear - to have a healthy future, we must have a healthy ocean and we all need to play our part. As a team we're passionate about using our platform to bring awareness to the critical role the ocean plays in the climate response, and by teaming up with Gen Less we want to inspire Kiwis to make climate-positive choices part of their daily lives."
Discover more about the actions you can take at genless.govt.nz
SailGP Season 2 Schedule
- December 17-18, 2021 Australia Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG | Sydney
- March 26-27, 2022 United States Sail Grand Prix | San Francisco (Season 2 Grand Final)