Rockwool Denmark wins Impact League Climate Action focus area with race to restore

Impact League reigning champions ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team has won the third key focus area of the supercharged Impact League - Climate action: innovating for a low carbon future.

The third of four key focus areas mobilizes teams to collaborate with their Purpose Partners and wider stakeholders to address climate change across SailGP operations and across our value chain.

The leading sustainable judging panel for this key focus area included Frederik Ottesen, Founder of Little Sun, Sam Sutaria, CEO of WaterBear, Professor Rachel Kyte, Dean Emerita of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Ellen Jones, Head of ESG of Formula 1 and Jacobo Calderon, Director of Responsible Investing of Mubadala.

To mark the ROCKWOOL Canada Sail Grand Prix event in Halifax this weekend, the team has collaborated with Title Partner ROCKWOOL & Purpose Partner One Ocean Foundation, plus Dalhousie University & CERI, to launch a unique, SailGP-wide seagrass re-planting mission – with an adrenaline-fuelled, racing twist that is Race to Restore.

The initiative will see over 300sqm of eelgrass planted in the ocean around Nova Scotia - capturing and storing approximately 80kg of CO2 every year, whilst purifying water and providing habitat for countless marine species.

The project raises awareness of the ocean’s importance, through the lens of SailGP’s epic racing – driving engagement on climate issues with mainstream audiences, leaving a lasting legacy in the new SailGP venue Halifax and harnessing world-class athletes to share the important message.

ROCKWOOL Denmark was awarded a total of 100 points, while Emirates Great Britain came in second with 90 and France came third with 80. This means ROCKWOOL Denmark moves into the top spot on the overall Impact League leaderboard after the team placed second in the Impact League’s first and second key focus areas - the Race to Zero Waste and Accelerating Incusion.

Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team collaborated with Purpose Partner Low Carbon to create an innovative Portable Renewable Energy Installation (PREI) to help take the team’s base off-grid at each event.

Featuring 38 solar panels and 2 micro-wind turbines – Emirates GBR have utilized SailGP Partner Aggreko to connect the system to the event grid, allocating surplus energy to other team bases and helping reduce SailGP’s carbon emissions overall. This scalable initiative was shared during COP28 via a Blueprint to provide organizations with information needed to implement similar technology and to inspire broader adoption of renewable energy to sports teams and beyond.

The France SailGP Team collaborated with Team Partner ACCOR, Purpose Partner Energy Observer and commercial partner Eodev, provided the league with hydrogen generators as an energy solution for SailGP events. Where green hydrogen (produced from renewable electricity) is available, the generators can help SailGP meet its target of being powered by 100% clean energy by 2025.

The team used their voice to educate and inspire by employing key activations including Accor’s All On Board! campaign and the ‘Quentin Express’. Developed in partnership with Energy Observer, the team traveled from Barcelona to Saint-Tropez (for the French home Grand Prix) using only low-carbon transport. The journey was documented to engage the fans, raise awareness on transport impacts and encourage people to prioritize low carbon mobility.

The fourth and final key focus area Breaking Boundaries - driving gender equity through the Women’s Pathway will be announced at the Grand Final in San Francisco in July, informing the decision of which team will be crowned the Season 4 Impact League winner.