To make future paddling competitions more environmentally friendly, SUP and windsurfing board manufacturer Starboard, founded in 1994, and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) have entered into a partnership that focuses on climate and water protection. The federation joins Starboard’s already extensive activities and will calculate the CO2 footprint of its events in the future. To compensate for these emissions, a corresponding amount of mangroves will be planted in accordance with the Starboard Blue concept, which will absorb even more than the carbon emissions generated, thus ensuring a positive CO2 offset. Starboard and the ICF have set a target of ten times the amount of mangroves to cover other emissions such as rider travel and more. A big step on the way to climate neutral events, which hopefully will find many imitators.
Svein Rasmussen, CEO of Starboard, was very pleased about the new partnership and explained: “One of our main goals is to make the 2024 Olympics tenfold climate neutral. We believe that sport and the Olympic movement can drive a shift in thinking, towards a healthier planet. That’s why we’ve been working for years to reforest mangroves in the Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park in Myanmar.”
The ICF is responsible for the global sport of canoeing and has 167 affiliated national associations and 13 disciplines: sprint, slalom, paracanoe, wildwater, marathon, canoe polo, freestyle, ocean racing, dragon boat, SUP, rafting, waveski and canoe sailing.
