About Carbon Challenge

Carbon Challenge is an innovation in both sports and business mentoring: a completely new concept that merges sporting ambition, environmental responsibility and training to demonstrate leadership in carbon reduction to businesses.

Carbon Challenge unites the ambitious goals of competing in the world’s leading sailing events – the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup - with a vision to become a catalyst and facilitator for a drastic reduction of carbon emissions. 

Global warming represents the greatest threat to the world’s ecological, political and economic stability.  It is already arguably the defining and dominant theme of the 21st century and Carbon Challenge is proud to be co-inhabiting a world with members of the corporate sector who realise there is both moral and economic opportunity in being among the first to accept and embrace this truth.

Regrettably, like everyone else on this planet, we didn’t choose to be in the Race Against Global Warming.  We are in it and our children’s destinies are controlled by it whether we like it or not.  However we and our partners choose to work to win the Race Against Global Warming because it is the right choice and because adversity always brings with it opportunity.

Carbon Challenge has a unique opportunity to make an enormous contribution in the Race Against Global Warming by using our media profile and attractive activity platforms to highlight the progress made in carbon reduction and in actively taking responsibility for helping leaders and public alike to reduce the rate of climate change.

This opportunity was taken up in late 2006 by a diverse group of people from the worlds of sailing, environmental management and business.  We set ourselves three ambitious, non-negotiable goals:

1. Running a completely carbon-neutral operation throughout our lifetime while achieving a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2015 - far ahead of global targets for sustainability.
    
2. Sailing in the Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup until we win them.  Simply because they are comparatively low carbon events, because they are technology-driven, because they have global appeal and because they attract business leaders in a way that few other sports do.
    
3. Using the high visibility and popularity of the world’s leading sailing events to raise awareness and pass on knowledge and skills for countering global warming. To change the world you have to inspire and change its leaders.  Carbon Challenge aims to do both.

Carbon Challenge does not serve the interests of a wealthy owner, national pride or a demanding sponsor.  We represent an idea.

We call this idea “Cool Thinking” – and its various facets are set out in the Carbon Challenge Code of Coolness.

We invite you to find out more about Carbon Challenge and join the Race against Global Warming. 

Because, as they say in the America’s Cup, “there is no second” – in the Race against Global Warming, that’s true, no matter which way you look at it.