Team Malizia at the UN Ocean Conference 2022 in Lisbon

Team Malizia and Giovanni Soldini as they received The Ocean Race's Relay4Nature Baton by Richard Brisuis in Portugal © Ricardo Pinto

A delegation of Team Malizia members attended the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon where they received The Ocean Race's Relay4Nature Baton alongside Italian skipper Giovanni Soldini and are participating in workshops in an effort to mitigate the climate crisis.

Team Malizia joined the United Nations' Ocean Conference 2022, co-hosted by the governments of Kenya and Portugal, which is taking place in Lisbon from 27 June to 1 July, they met with scientific and sustainability partners, and heard from science and technology experts, as well as representatives from the economic, governmental and civil society spheres discussing how we can move forward with answers and solutions to mitigate the climate crisis and protect our oceans. In order to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, the conference seeks to scale up ocean action by propelling much needed science-based innovative solutions for the implementation of SDG Goal 14.

Team director Holly Cova, communications manager Helene Katz, and Lucia Nebreda from the management team met in Lisbon aboard Giovanni Soldini's Multi70 trimaran, Maserati. The Italian skipper and Team Malizia share a strong connection as he introduced the team's co-founders Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann almost ten years ago. They have also always been aligned on the protection and study of solutions to safeguard the ocean. In this effort, the Maserati Multi70 team recently installed the same Ocean Pack aboard their trimaran, and both teams will now collect ocean data like sea surface CO2 levels to help scientists understand and monitor the health of our oceans.

Giovanni Soldini and Holly Cova aboard Maserati, after the teams were handed over the baton - photo © Team Malizia

Upon their arrival, Giovanni Soldini and Team Malizia received the The Ocean Race's Relay4Nature Baton from Richard Brisius, Race Chairman of The Ocean Race. The Baton symbolically links environmental conferences around the world as it passes through the hands of leaders, innovators and ocean advocates, giving the ocean a voice on the critical issues the planet is facing.

The Ocean Race's Relay4Nature Baton - photo © All rights reserved

"We are all in this together, and the time to act is now", said Giovanni Soldini, who will be sailing the baton out to Genoa, where The Ocean Race will conclude in a year's time. Next stop: New York, where the United Nations General Assembly will take place in September. Team director Holly Cova added "it is great to see Giovanni's team adding the same Ocean Pack to their boat, this highly valuable data helps scientists to better understand the impact of climate change on the ocean and increases the outreach sailors like Boris can have when communicating to the public on this topic".

Team Malizia also actively participated in workshops initiated by The Ocean Race to discuss the potential pathways for the presentation of ocean rights principle and ambition, in the form of a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights to the United Nations in July 2023.