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CO2Logic and Vinçotte issue ‘CO2-neutral’ certificate to Team Malizia

12-10-2019

 

Brussels, 16 October 2019 – The renowned Malizia sailing team, which is part of the Yacht Club de Monaco, has been issued a ‘CO2-neutral’ certificate by the independent climate consultancy firm CO2Logic and the Belgian inspection and certification institution Vinçotte. The team, which just last month sailed to New York for the UN Climate Action Summit with the young climate activist Greta Thunberg, has thus earned recognition for its efforts to keep its climate impact as low as possible. To offset its residual emissions, Team Malizia supports a Gold Standard climate project in Ghana. 

 

Team Malizia was founded in 2016 by Pierre Casiraghi, vice-president of the Yacht Club de Monaco. Together with his good friend and professional sailor Boris Herrmann, he laid the foundations for Team Malizia and takes part in sailing races all over the world. Boris hopes to put in a strong performance with Malizia II in the Vendée Globe in 2020, one of the world’s most prestigious solo around the world races for sailing yachts. 

 

The independent climate consultancy firm CO2Logic has monitored the sailing team closely in the past months to map their CO2 emissions and climate impact. The emissions of Team Malizia Team stem from energy consumption, both fossil fuels and electricity, generated by their offices in Germany, hangar in Lorient, company cars, commuting to and from work, business travel and diesel used by Malizia II. Air travel has the biggest impact on the climate.
 

The climate impact of the yacht is minimal. The impact of the diesel engine of the vessel itself in 2018 was 230 kg CO2. Malizia II relies mostly on wind energy of course, and uses the diesel engine only for certain manoeuvres or when there is no wind. Also Team Malizia makes great use of the 1.3kw of energy generated by solar panels and two water turbines, which is why they hardly rely on the generator for power.

 

Greta Thunberg

The ten-strong team has been making every effort to reduce its climate impact further for years. ““We as a team are looking at ways to further reduce our carbon footprint, to report on it further at all levels and to then look at compensation when we can reduce no more,” says Holly Cova, Team Malizia’s manager. Just last month, Boris and Pierre sailed sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg emission free across the Atlantic to New York so she could attend the UN Climate Summit on the Malizia II. “This journey was very important to the team as we believe in Greta and her message for climate action now.”

 

“Many teams in all branches of sport take part in events and competitions all over the world. This entails all sorts of logistics which has a great influence on their climate impact. Fortunately, more and more teams are aware of this and are endeavouring to map and to reduce that impact. They are thus setting a good example not only for other teams but also for their thousands of fans worldwide. We can only encourage such efforts,” says Antoine Geerinckx, founder of CO2Logic.

 

Residual emissions 

In spite of the efforts of the team to keep their climate impact as low as possible, residual CO2 emissions are unavoidable. The team now triple offsets these emissions by supporting a certified climate project in Ghana. It also supports Plant-for-the-Planet and the Mama Earth Foundation. The certified climate project is the ‘Efficient Cookstoves’ project which is intended to counter the deforestation of the rain forest in Ghana by purchasing energy-efficient cookstoves for the local population.  

 

“The cookstoves are made in local workshops with local materials and use 40% to 50% less wood or charcoal. Furthermore, the local production of these cookstoves will create more employment and economic development. The project is Gold Standard certified – the highest standard for climate projects, which means that a great deal of attention is focused on additional socio-economic aspects, such as health, biodiversity, employment, etc. It is therefore not only about CO2 reduction, but also about SDGs and sustainable development,” Antoine Geerinckx concludes.