Volvo Cars announces new coastal health initiatives at The Ocean Race Summit Alicante
by The Ocean Race 30 Nov 2024 07:47 PST
At The Ocean Race Summit Alicante, Vanessa Butani unveiled two new coastal health initiatives under the Volvo For Life Fund © Tiger Brisius / The Ocean Race
At The Ocean Race Summit Alicante, Volvo Cars, a Premier Partner of The Ocean Race unveiled two new coastal health initiatives under the Volvo For Life Fund.
"As a company rooted in the coastal city of Gothenburg, we hold the health of our coastal ecosystems close to our heart," Volvo Cars Head of Global Sustainability, Vanessa Butani said earlier today at The Ocean Race Summit Alicante.
At The Ocean Race Summit Alicante, Volvo Cars, a Premier Partner of The Ocean Race unveiled two new coastal health initiatives under the Volvo For Life Fund.
"As a company rooted in the coastal city of Gothenburg, we hold the health of our coastal ecosystems close to our heart," Volvo Cars Head of Global Sustainability, Vanessa Butani said earlier today at The Ocean Race Summit Alicante.
The Volvo For Life Fund is a global fund supporting projects that aim to empower people, restore and preserve our planet, and provide protection when natural disasters strike. It brings Volvo's safety heritage into the future to ignite hope for people, communities, and ecosystems. Today unveiled here at the Ocean Race Summit in Alicante, Spain, the Volvo For Life Fund launched two new coastal health initiatives in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and the University of Gothenburg. These projects aim to preserve biodiversity and support local communities.
In her keynote, Butani stressed that the health of the ocean and coasts is vital for sustaining biodiversity, supporting marine ecosystems, and ensuring the livelihoods of millions around the world. Clean and thriving marine environments contribute to climate stability, food security, and economic prosperity.
"With the world's current triple planetary crisis - climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss - it is simply not enough to just focus on CO2 emissions. Nature supports all life on Earth, and it is our greatest ally in the fight against climate change through critical carbon dioxide absorption by forests and oceans", she added. She also highlighted that ocean and coastal ecosystems protect and improve water quality, support maritime and terrestrial biodiversity, act as carbon sinks, contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and provide nature-based solutions that help adapt to the effects of climate change, such as protection against coastal erosion and prevention of flooding.
"The timing and place of this announcement is no coincidence. We are at The Ocean Race Summit to encourage action for ocean health and we are proud to announce our partners here. Sustainability is about so much more than CO2 emissions, and Volvo Cars will continue to take significant steps to address our impact, including coastal health," Butani continued.
Held under the themes "Restoring society's relationship with the Ocean and Connecting Europe," The Ocean Race Summit Alicante gathered representatives from The Ocean Race Europe 2025 host cities, teams, sailors, academia, youth, policy makers and partners at the ADDA, the Auditorium of the Alicante Diputation, where the Race is headquartered. The event highlighted best practices, solutions and policies for ocean health in the Mediterranean and beyond Volvo Cars ambitious work with coastal health restoration and biodiversity.
Representatives from host cities of The Ocean Race Europe also shared their best practices in water management and blue economy.
"Over 80% of life on Earth is found in the Ocean, a substantial part of it in coastal regions," says Richard Brisius, the Race Chairman of The Ocean Race. "Together with Volvo Cars, we are part of a movement working for a healthy Ocean. We are excited that The Nature Conservancy and the University of Gothenburg are joining us on our journey with a focus on coastal health".
Long-lasting cooperation
In August 2024, Volvo Cars and The Ocean Race announced an extension of their 25 year partnership well into the new decade, including a joint mission on ocean health. Volvo Cars and The Ocean Race both share the strong commitment to a more sustainable future and to contribute and deliver actual change where it's needed, including in the restoration and preservation of natural ecosystems and biodiversity.