Hannah Mills OBE to share carbon footprint success at World Sailing Sustainability Session

Hannah Mills OBE to share Emirates GBR SailGP Team's carbon footprint success at World Sailing Sustainability Session © World Sailing

Great Britain's most successful female Olympic sailor and strategist for Emirates GBR SailGP Team, Hannah Mills OBE, will headline as guest speaker at World Sailing's upcoming Sustainability Session on renewable energy in the sport.

The panel session, 'A Focus on Renewable Energy', will be held live from 8am UTC on Wednesday 14 May 2025.

Hosted by Alexandra Rickham PLY, World Sailing's Director of Sustainability, the discussion will include insight from Justin Thesiger, Global Managing Director of Low Carbon, and Matt Haslam, Emirates GBR Shore Team Manager.

To join the session, register here.

Emirates GBR were crowned winners of the SailGP Impact League in Season 4, which tracks teams' positive environmental and social actions across the race calendar. One of Emirates GBR's key projects was collaborating with Low Carbon on a first-of-its-kind portable renewable energy installation which travels to all race locations with the team. The installation, consisting of 38 solar panels and two micro wind turbines, produces enough energy to take Emirates GBR off-grid at events and also help power other SailGP Teams.

Across the season, the installation generated 5,636kwh of renewable energy and avoided 1,804kg of CO2e. Following its success, Emirates GBR and Low Carbon decided to create a Portable Off-Grid Power blueprint to share its learnings and encourage other teams and industries to adopt renewable energy.

Session host, Alexandra Rickham, said: "Global sports have the power to reach communities around the world and inspire others to make a positive change.

"The efforts of the Emirates GBR Team to take the lead in implementing renewable energy without sacrificing performance show that making a difference does not mean compromising.

"This Sustainability Session will be invaluable to any sailing organisation looking to take the next step and use the expertise and success of others to guide their own journey towards a more sustainable future."

Emirates GBR SailGP Team Strategist Hannah Mills OBE said: "As a sports team we are privileged to be able to travel around the world doing what we love, but we are aware that this has an impact. We wanted to take action to reduce this impact, and our renewable energy installation with Low Carbon has been a huge success.

"We are now focused on using our voice to encourage others to take action and by teaming up with World Sailing on their Sustainability Sessions we hope to inspire meaningful change."

In January 2025, Team Emirates GBR became the first SailGP team to release an Impact Report, detailing the results of its ambitious environmental and social commitment. Covering every aspect of team operations.

Emirates GBR show how to incorporate renewable energy into high-performance sport while also increasing accessibility to the sport by expanding the Athena Pathway Programme to fast-track the development of females and youth in the marine industry.

World Sailing's Sustainability Sessions launched in 2023 to offer free educational expert-led webinars to empower Member National Authorities (MNAs), classes, event organisers, sailing clubs and anyone involved in sailing to improve sustainability across the sport.

Recordings from the previous Sustainability Sessions are available to watch on the World Sailing YouTube channel.