TEAHUPOʻO, TAHITI, FRENCH POLYNESIA – AUGUST 10: Kanoa Igarashi of Japan at the WSLOO Activation coral restoration at the SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro on August 10, 2023 at Teahupoʻo, Tahiti, French Polynesia. (Photo by Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League)
Today, the World Surf League (WSL) and its non-profit partner, WSL PURE, celebrated the impact of the projects and the milestones achieved by its WSL One Ocean initiative in 2023. To provide a deeper understanding of the league’s efforts, the WSL has released its 2023 Annual Purpose & Impact Report. This report details the league’s environmental and social impact initiatives during the 2023 season, offering a comprehensive view of its commitment through the perspective of WSL One Ocean.
WSL One Ocean Activations Create Positive Impact in 2023 and Beyond
Over the 2023 Championship Tour (CT) season, WSL One Ocean partnered with local communities, Indigenous and First Nations peoples, surfers, and a coalition of over 100 organizations to host over 16 local impact projects and activations, which focused on protecting and conserving our global ocean and its ecosystem.
This season the WSL delivered the following impact:
- 45,374 hectares of land protected or restored, including the protection of surf ecosystems in Hawaii, Australia, and Brazil and long-term reforestation projects in Uruguay through WSL’s carbon offset portfolio
- 100,000 corals planted through efforts with Coral Gardeners
- 2 tons of plastic removed through river intervention projects in Latin America
- 1,635 volunteers engaged across all WSL One Ocean activations
- 3,041 youths educated on cultural and environmental stewardship
In addition, WSL One Ocean received six awards in sports sustainability, including the prestigious Leaders In Sport Sustainability Category Award and the Green Sports Alliance Waste Champion Award.
Third-Annual WSL PURE Grant Program Supports Projects Around the World
As part of WSL One Ocean, WSL PURE hosts an annual grant program to fund local impact projects in key regions that are focused on improving the health of global ocean ecosystems and supporting the livelihoods and cultures of the communities dependent on them.
In its third year, the 2023 WSL PURE Grant Program supported 16 local impact projects, which varied from funding a compost machine for the North Shore of Hawaii and deploying seeded kelp lines to restore kelp ecosystems in Portugal, to removing plastic from rivers in El Salvador and planting a coral nursery in Tahiti. The grant program is also dedicated to inclusion and environmental stewardship through meaningful collaborations with Indigenous and First Nations communities, and organizations such as Native Like Water.
“We are extremely proud of the sustainability impact we’ve achieved by working with our WSL athletes, WSL PURE Grantees, WSL One Ocean partners, and global employees over the past year,” said Emily Hofer, WSL Chief People and Purpose Officer. “As we reflect on our accomplishments, we remain steadfast in our commitment that sustainability is not just a goal; it is a way of life. Together, we can create a positive impact that extends far beyond the shoreline.”
In 2024, the WSL One Ocean initiative is looking forward to engaging communities at each CT stop and continuing to fund critical local impact projects through its WSL PURE Grant Program. While the WSL is celebrating all that was achieved in 2023, there is still work to be done, and the WSL remains committed to protecting and conserving our one ocean.
WSL One Ocean is proudly supported by global commercial partners SHISEIDO, YETI, and AB InBev; regional partners, Mananalu Water and Hydralyte; and WSL PURE grantees and WSL One Ocean coalition partners.
View the WSL’s 2023 Annual Purpose & Impact Report.
For more information, please visit worldsurfleague.com/wsloneocean.
About the WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning the World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfers on the world’s best waves. WSL is comprised of the Tours and Competition division, which oversees and operates more than 180 global competitions each year; Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC), home of the world’s largest high-performance, human-made wave; and WSL Studios, an independent producer of unscripted and scripted projects.
For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.
