From the People’s Summit Flotilla to ocean advocacy events from the Ocean Race, the UN Climate Conference highlighted powerful connections between the sailing community and climate talks. Catch up on your COP30 sailing summary here. View of the Greenpeace ‘Rainbow Warrior’ ship during the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para State, Brazil, on November 12, 2025. Photo: Mauro PIMENTEL \/ AFP.\u2018Oceans must be at the forefront of climate discussions,\u2019 says CEO of COP30 Ana Toni.
\nWith ocean issues at its centre, it\u2019s no wonder this week\u2019s UN Climate Conference in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil included members from across the sailing community. From sportsmen to sailing activists to race officials, here\u2019s who sailed to the UN Climate Conference and why.
\nCop30 sailing news at a glance<\/p>\n
Greepeace and the People\u2019s Summit Flotilla in the waters of Bel\u00e9m
\nThe Ocean Race highlights what climate leadership can learn from the sailing mindset
\nCrews from Voices of and Ocean Institute and the Women Wave Project sail into the conference
\nCOP30\u2019s Ocean-first topics that sailors will want to know about, including the Blue Package and the High Seas Treaty<\/p>\n
The People\u2019s Summit Flotilla takes to the waters around COP30
\nOver 150 boats with members of indigenous communities and social organisations sailed the Guama River as part of a symbolic crossing during the COP30, according to organisers. Photo: Mauro PIMENTEL \/ AFP.
\nAhead of COP30, more than 5,000 people across 200 vessels sailed in the waters of Bel\u00e9m as part of the People\u2019s Summit Flotilla in the hopes of demonstrating that a sustainable future is built not by industry, but by mobilising on a community level.
\nIn attendance was Greenpeace\u2019s iconic fishing trawler-turned sail-power ship, the Rainbow Warrior, the second ship to bear this name after its predecessor\u2019s infamous sinking by French secret service agents.
\nExecutive Director of Greenpeace Brazil Carolina Pasquali commented:
\n\u2018The thousands of people in the flotilla today are showing the strength of a unified global movement \u2014 communities who have been impacted by extreme weather events and by companies profiting from the destruction of our planet, Indigenous Peoples who have been fighting for generations for their rights, their lands and the forest, and civil society demanding real action from world leaders and negotiators at COP.\u2019
\nInside COP30: The Ocean Race tackles ocean advocacy
\nPhoto: Sophie Valerie Hulme \/ The Ocean Race.
\nInside the conference, sailor-driven events highlighted the importance of protecting the oceans to address climate change.
\nIn a panel titled \u2018Racing for the Ocean: Faster and Smarter\u2019, the Ocean Race brought Brazilian sailing icon, Olympic champion, and winner of the 2008-2009 Ocean Race Torben Grael together with global experts to explore the findings of the Planetary Health Check 2025.
\nTalks between Grael, UN Secretary-General\u2019s Special Envoy for the Ocean Peter Thomson, Ocean Impact Director at The Ocean Race Lucy Hunt, and Race Chairman of The Ocean Race Richard Brisius highlighted the urgent need to protect natural carbon sinks, reinforce ocean science, and revitalise humanity\u2019s connection to the ocean.
\n\u2018Ocean health is currently, measurably, in decline,\u2019 commented Thomson. \u2018But there is hope. Around the world, ocean science is advancing at a pace we have never seen before.\u2019
\nWhat can climate leaders can learn from sailing?
\nTorben Grael after winning the semi finals, race 5, against U.S. BMW Oracle of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2007. He was Italy\u2019s Luna Rossa Challenge Tactician. Photo: Associated Press \/ Alamy.
\nAs the \u2018Racing for the Oceans\u2019 panel\u2019s sailor-in-residence, Grael identified elements from the sailing mindset that can help climate leaders face uncertainty, solve problems under pressure, and persist as they work to protect the oceans.
\n\u2018Sailing is a very difficult sport because it involves water and wind, both unpredictable and sometimes dangerous,\u2019 he explained.\u00a0\u2018We must analyse what went wrong, decide what to correct, and make it better next time,\u2019 Grael says. \u2018That is how we win this race for the ocean.\u2019
\n\u2018Just as sailors navigate the unknown with courage, determination, and teamwork, the world must chart a new course, one that respects planetary boundaries and safeguards the ocean for future generations,\u2019 adds Brisius. \u2018Sailors depend on the ocean: it is our racetrack, our home, our teacher. We have a responsibility to protect it.\u2019
\n\u2018Racing for Oceans\u2019 builds on the Ocean Race\u2019s wider efforts to put ocean advocacy at the forefront of racing, which include sailor-led offshore data collection and stopover events dedicated to conservation.
\nMore sailing crews mooring up for COP30
\nThe Greenpeace \u2018Rainbow Warrior\u2019 ship docks at the riverbank of the Federal University of Para (Orla da UFPA), Belem, Brazil for COP30 UN Climate Summit. Photo: Mauro PIMENTEL \/ AFP.
\nHeloisa Schurmann, co-founder of Brazilian global-impact initiative Voice of the Oceans Institute (VOI), sailed 3,000 miles from St Helena to Brazil to attend COP30 with the sustainable sailboat Kat.\u00a0
\nKat docked in Bel\u00e8m from early November, giving visitors a chance to get onboard for a firsthand look at the sustainable onboard technologies developed in collaboration between VOI and global electronics company WEG.
\nVOI and WEG also teamed up on the Casa Vozes do Oceano,\u00a0a free exhibition space open to the public, where they are presenting a series of activities to promote ocean protection and recovery through science, education, and innovation.
\n\u2018Voice of the Oceans is not just an expedition,\u2019 Schurmann wrote from onboard. \u2018It is a call. An invitation for every person, institution, and government to listen to what the sea has to say. We are bringing to Bel\u00e9m\u2014and to COP30\u2014not only data and alarming evidence, but also inspiring stories of those who chose to take action.\u2019
\nThe Women Wave Project
\nFrench climate activist Camille Etienne before sailing with other activists to COP30 on L\u2019Esprit d\u2019Equipe. Photo: Damien Meyer \/ Getty.
\nThe Women Wave Project, supported by Amnesty International Belgium, brought an all-female crew of sailors and activists from Saint-Nazaire, France to Brazil onboard the legendary French racing yacht L\u2019Esprit d\u2019equipe, winner in her class of the 1985-86 Whitbread Round the World Race.
\n\u2018Crossing the Atlantic with women only was both intense and deeply symbolic,\u2019 said crew member Ma\u00eft\u00e9 Mee\u00fbs, Brussels-based feminist and founder of an NGO that support survivors of sexual violence. \u2018We wanted to embody the message we\u2019re bringing to the COP: that women are always on the front line of crises, yet rarely at the decision table.\u2019
\nThe Women Wave Project is accredited within the Belgian delegation, and has taken part in both the public \u201cgreen zone\u201d and the official \u201cblue zone\u201d for state delegations at COP30.
\nOceans at the centre of COP30
\nAttendees line up to get into the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, in Belem, Brazil. Photo: Fernando Llano \/ Getty.
\nThese sailors were part of more than 55,000 participants in attendance at COP30, where talks focused on the dual priority of protecting the world\u2019s oceans and its forests.
\nIn the ocean sphere, three primary initiatives were front and centre.
\nFirst, explicitly including ocean resources in Brazil\u2019s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), or its climate impact plan, in order to foreground the ocean in its measurement of climate progress and to provide a ocean-inclusive impact model for other nations.
\nSecond, coordinating the Blue Package, a roadmap for accelerating ocean climate solutions by 2028.
\nFinally, talks centred not only the ratification but the implementation of the High Seas Treaty, also known as the global BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) agreement, which will become effective in January 2026 after reaching the 60 ratifications needed to trigger its entrance into force.
\nThe High Seas Treaty establishes Marine Protected Areas in two-thirds of the world\u2019s oceans and creates a legal framework for governing the worlds commons. In the marine sphere, this includes marine life and environments in areas outside of national jurisdiction, such as the high seas and the international seabed, and their possible use in practices such as commercial fishing and deep sea mining.
\nIts funding and implementation will be discussed at BBNJ COP1 in late 2026.
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe ocean citizen science being carried out on yachts<\/p>\n
There is a fierce and surprisingly passionate debate unfolding on the deck of Freeranger, our 50ft Beneteau. The question at\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Mass casualty we face very often,\u2019 says skipper of search and rescue sailing yacht in the Central Med<\/p>\n
\u2018I read in the newspaper about people drowning in the Central Med, and I asked myself whether I needed to\u2026<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The post What does COP30 have to do with sailing? More than you think appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the People’s Summit Flotilla to ocean advocacy events from the Ocean Race, the UN Climate Conference highlighted powerful connections between the sailing community and climate talks. Catch up on your COP30 sailing summary here. View of the Greenpeace ‘Rainbow … <\/p>\n