World Surf League Delivers We Are One Ocean Petition to United Nations

• Campaign Calls on World Leaders to Protect and Conserve 
  30% of the Global Ocean by 2030
• Find Out More and Watch the Petition Video at WorldSurfLeague.com

The World Surf League (WSL) today announces the delivery of the We Are One Oceanpetition to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, Kunming China, calling on world leaders to protect and conserve 30% of the global ocean by 2030.

The WSL launched We Are One Ocean in early 2021 with the goal of bringing people together to care about the issue of ocean conservation and preserve the future of surfing for generations of surfers to come. Since launch, the campaign has brought together people from over 150 countries and more than 90 organizations as well as garnering more than 400 million cumulative reach.

“We Are One Ocean provides a powerful opportunity for the global community of surfers and ocean lovers to have their voice heard by world leaders,” said WSL Chief People & Purpose Officer, Emily Hofer. “We know that meaningful change can be achieved through igniting passionate communities to speak up on behalf of our one ocean. The WSL is committed to working at both the global and grassroots level to protect and conserve the global ocean and, in particular, investing in youth as stewards of the global ocean.”

WSL collaborated with nine ambassadors from around the world – including scientists who surf Dr. Cliff Kapono and Dr. Easkey Britton as well as WSL Championship Tour surfers Kanoa Igarashi and Lakey Peterson – to expand the conversation by sharing their personal connection to our one ocean in the We Are One Ocean content series. The campaign was also integrated into Championship Tour (CT) events throughout the season, including beach cleanups, coastal restoration and turtle nesting preparation.

The WSL brought together an unprecedented worldwide coalition of more than 90 Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and corporations in support of We Are One Ocean and committed to conservation, sports, and sustainability, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Conservation International, Take3, Surfers Against Sewage, I AM WATER, Surfrider Foundation, Sea Legacy, Lonely Whale, PADI, and World Sailing.

As part of the We Are One Ocean campaign the WSL launched and funded a new grant program, which supports the ocean conservation work of NGOs tied to the locations and communities around the world that graciously host WSL CT events. Recipients included SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation, Brazil, WILDCOAST, California, Mālama Pūpūkea-Waimea, Hawaii and WILDOCEANS, South Africa. The application for the 2022 grant program is open now.

We Are One Ocean is supported by Shiseido as part of the SHISEIDO BLUE PROJECT, which promotes ocean conservation through initiatives such as beach clean ups and sand dune planting to safeguard shorelines, and Gillette Venus as part of their ongoing commitment to provide women the best grooming products while protecting our planet’s resources, as well as the all-new Jeep 4xe hybrid electric vehicle.

The petition has been delivered in the form of a video to the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (CBD) ahead of the meetings in Kunming, China next spring, where the new Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will be presented for final consideration and decision by CBD’s 196 parties.

About the WSL 
Established in 1976, the World Surf League (WSL) is the home of the world’s best surfing. 
 
A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world’s largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.
 
The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties.  
 
Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com. 
 
WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.
 
The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.  
 
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.

About WSL PURE 
PURE stands for Protecting, Understanding, and Respecting the Environment, and is the non-profit of the WSL. Founded in 2016, WSL PURE is on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower ocean protection, starting with the global surf community. WSL PURE is specifically focused on addressing the climate crisis, marine plastic pollution, and ocean health. PURE leverages the WSL’s incredible platform to shine a light on the people making a difference – environmentalists, athletes, advocacy organizations, communities, individuals – and collaborates with world-class, non-profit partners. 

For more information, please visit wslpure.org.