Deep Dive: WSL's Carbon Offset Efforts in Review

The ocean critically influences our atmosphere, and a changing climate has consequences for our coasts and way of life. With this in mind, WSL pledged to become carbon neutral in 2019 by offsetting staff and athlete travel, events, and business operations, and also offset the 2018 calendar year, prior to making the commitment in 2019.

WSL employs a comprehensive approach to carbon accounting, covering a range of operational areas. Key sources of emissions include travel for athletes and staff (such as flights, car rentals, and hotels), event production (including fuel, electricity, waste management, and vendor travel) for Championship Tour, Challenger Series, Longboard, and Big Wave events, fan attendance, office operations, employee commuting and teleworking, and the broadcast logistics needed to deliver surf competitions to a global audience.

The WSL is offsetting its carbon footprint by investing in and supporting projects such as VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) and REDD+ (reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) certified carbon offset projects that have a focus on restoring and protecting natural ecosystems as well as supporting renewable energy development in each of the WSL's regions.

From 2018 to 2019 the WSL moved to 100% nature based solutions, adding the McCloud River and Jari Pará Project to their portfolio and continued this approach in 2020. Nature-based solutions, or natural climate solutions, are projects that restore, protect or transform land. In this way, nature absorbs more CO2 emissions from the atmosphere.

In addition, from 2018 to 2019 the WSL identified that staff flights were the largest source of emissions in 2018 accounting for 53.1% of all emissions. With this in mind, a concerted effort was made to reduce staff travel while still providing the best event experience possible for athletes and fans and reduced staff travel emissions to 45.8% of all emissions (reducing the largest emissions source by 7.3% YOY).

Since 2018, WSL has measured, reduced and offset emissions from WSL Championship Tour, Big Wave Tour and WSL Operations. In total, from 2018 through 2022, WSL has offset 22,003 tonnes of CO2 emissions (mtCO2e) with an average of 4,401 tonnes of CO2 emissions (mtCO2e) per year, including 100% nature-based solutions, which is equivalent to planting and growing 363,821 trees for 10 years (EPA). In 2021, WSL deepened its investment in this space by also offsetting operations at WSL Surf Ranch, in Lemoore, Calif., a world-class facility that features the longest, rippable, open barrel human-made wave.

We all depend on healthy oceans to survive. - WSL / Kody McGregor

WSL offset projects from 2018-2023 have included:

In Australia: The Mount Sandy Conservation forest project ensures permanent protection for a regionally and culturally important pocket of biodiversity-rich land in partnership with its Traditional Owners. Local birds, animals and plants flourish undisturbed, while native plants for revegetation will be supplied by the local nursery at Raukkan Aboriginal Community, a self-governed Indigenous community 50 kilometers northwest of the project site.

In Asia Pacific: The Katingan Mentaya project in Borneo is a REDD+ peat swamp forest that fights deforestation from mining and palm oil plantations. VCS and Triple Gold Certified project recognized for its positive social impacts (34 communities; 45k people) and biodiversity (5 Critically Endangered, 8 Endangered, and 31 Vulnerable species).

In Africa: The Mikoko Pamoja mangrove reforestation project in Gazi Bay, Kenya is run by two rural communities who have protected 117 hectares of mangroves, provided clean water for 3,500 people, restored local school buildings, sponsored football clubs, and supplied educational materials for 700 school children. The Chyulu Hills REDD+ project in Kenya where Conservation International (CI) and partners have implemented a forest carbon project alongside government agencies, environmental organizations and local communities. Their mission is clear: to invest in education, health care and new job opportunities that will improve families' well-being, while alleviating the economic pressures that drive deforestation. In September, 2024 CI released the Chyulu Hills 2024 Impact Report.

In South America:

• The Vida Manglar is the world's first blue carbon project to enter the market with its carbon stores fully valued - that is, with the carbon stored in both the trees and the soils, fully accounted for. The project is based in Colombia and will reduce approximately one million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 30 years by conserving and sustainably managing coastal mangrove ecosystems, marshes, and associated streams. Conservation International and regional partners - INVEMAR Research Institute and CVS (Coporación autónoma regional del Valle del Sinú) are using the carbon value generated through the conservation and restoration of mangroves to contribute to a long-term sustainable financing strategy for the region.
• The AgroCortex project is a REDD+ forest conservation project in the Amazon rainforest. Over the next 30 years, this project will help reduce over 14 million tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Additionally, this project will help protect the Amazon's rich biodiversity and lies inside a worldwide birdlife endemic area. Fauna surveys conducted indicated the presence of 345 species of birds.
• The Jari Pará Project is a forest conservation project. It reduces potential greenhouse gas emissions by protecting a large swath of forest (almost twice the size of Luxembourg) that otherwise would have been destroyed. It is a REDD+ project that is at the front lines of deforestation in the Amazon today trying to stop clear-cutting practices that are causing the loss of so much rainforest today.
• The Santa Vitoria do Palmar and Chui wind farm in Brazil (a United Nations Clean Development Mechanism Certified Emission Reduction project) which powers 400,000 homes. Also,the ceramic factories of Argibem, São Sebastião, and Vulcão which run on renewable biomass instead of native timber from endangered and unique Brazilian ecosystems, and also has positive social impacts in the community schools.

In North America:

• Almost 24,000 acres of protected Redwood forest protected from traditional logging to store carbon and safeguard endangered wildlife (Coho Salmon and Northern Spotted Owl) in the coastal watersheds of the Garcia River Forests in Mendocino County.
• The McCloud River project is an Improved Forest Management project. It generates emissions reductions through sustainable practices of commercial timberlands about 20 miles southeast of Mount Shasta in Northern California. Commercial harvesting does occur on the project, but by using sustainable practices the landowners have preserved more forest and actually increase the amount of carbon stored by the property over time.

In addition to the projects above, WSL has also supported the One Carbon World projects detailed below aligned to 2022 and 2023 emissions such as reforestation initiatives that enhanced soil quality and erosion in Uruguay and projects focused on mitigating climate change through innovative technologies and sustainable practices in India.

• In South America, the Lumin/Eucapine/La Pitanga Project is a VERRA, Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) project, which is a 100-year project that will sequester up to 5.601.938 tonnes of CO2e. The main objectives of the project activity are to convert degraded grassland into beneficial forest plantations, enhancing soil quality and preventing erosion, conservation of natural resources, land restoration and carbon sequestration through afforestation. All practices follow FSC® forest management standard for responsible forest management, while enhancing biodiversity conservation by increasing the connectivity of forests and different ecosystems, generating income and job opportunities for local communities in rural areas of the centre-east region of Uruguay.
• A United Nations GHG Emission Reductions by thermal oxidation of HFC 23 Project: This project innovation is a result of an international technical collaboration between the UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy, Japan, and India. In collaboration with industries and communities, this project strives to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This project has developed and built facilities that now capture HFC gases into substances with no or lower global warming potential, reducing the impact that such gases would have on our climate if they were released. This vital initiative is dedicated to preserving the ozone layer and mitigating climate change through innovative technologies and sustainable practices. By promoting cleaner production methods, energy efficiency, and renewable energy adoption, the project minimizes GHG emissions, contributing to global efforts in addressing climate change. This project will sequester 3,000,000 metric tonnes CO2 equivalent per annum.
• This United Nations N2O Emission Reduction Project based in India, aims to protect the environment by significantly reducing N2O emissions and also aims to reduce pollution to our waterways. This project supports the installation of a secondary catalyst in the ammonia reactors of one of the two nitric acid production units of the fertilizer plant of Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers ("RCF"). N2O is a potent greenhouse gas with very high global-warming potential. The project activity helps in the catalytic reduction of N2O which is an undesirable by-product of the nitric acid production process and so emission reductions of it. This project will sequester 901,968 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent per annum.

In compliance with California Assembly Bill 1305 (2023), click here for more information on the WSL's supported carbon projects.

All coastline communities and ecosystems are impacted by the health of our ocean. - WSL / Jesse Jennings

The WSL also works to reduce its carbon footprint by regionalizing its operation, limiting non-essential travel and implementing policies to reduce carbon emissions at its offices. In 2022, WSL Announced the Global Impacts below:

• Reduced emissions by 49% from the 2018 baseline year.
• Reduced waste by 70% from the 2018 baseline year.
• Collected 100 tons of plastic from Indonesia's rivers, and
• Conserved 347,291 hectares of land, including long term protection for incredible waves and surf ecosystems at Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica and Grajagan Bay, Java, Indonesia.

From 2018 through 2022 the WSL carbon offset program was calculated and curated in partnership with STOKE (Sustainable Tourism & Outdoors Kit for Evaluation), a certification organization with standards built specifically for surf and mountain tourism operators, destinations, and affiliated events. Starting in 2023, WSL will be partnering with One Carbon World for their carbon offset program.

Some facts that propelled the WSL pledge to become carbon neutral by the end of 2019:

• Because of increased global temperatures, the ocean has absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat in the atmosphere, which causes more frequent and intense storms and dangerously rising sea levels. (Laffoley, D., & Baxter, J. (2016). Explaining ocean warming: Causes, scale, effects and consequences.)
• Sea level is expected to rise by 2-3 feet by the end of this century, and over 6 feet is plausible. Sea level has already risen 10 inches since 1900 due to warming oceans and melting ice. (IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers.)
• Sea level rise will threaten over 150 million people by the end of this century. (Kopp et al., 2017, Earth's Future)

Check out WSL's 2023 Annual Purpose and Impact Report to learn more about our impact in and out of the water.

The ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth and supports life on our planet. - WSL / WSL/Matt Dunbar

Oceans make up over 70% of the earth's surface and are responsible for: regulating our global climate, providing us with food we depend on for survival, and cleaning the air we breathe. Our one ocean is also the world's largest storehouse for carbon with more than 80% of the carbon cycle circulating through the waves we ride.

With carbon emissions continuing to rise, our oceans are taking on more energy and heat, which results in rising sea levels and temperatures. This continual absorption of CO2 also leads to increased acidity, which combined with warming temperatures, is changing the basic composition of our ocean leading to the destruction of coral reefs. Our reefs not only provide us with some of the breaks we cherish most, but are entire ecosystems to many species that rely on them for food and protection. In addition, they serve as the primary source of protein for most coastal communities.

While business and governments play a large part in improving the health of our climate, individual actions are instrumental in creating global change. Take individual action today through the suggestions below and help build a healthy global climate by:

Transportation:

• Biking/skating more, driving less (why: reducing your carbon footprint and use of fossil fuels makes a big difference for our planet)
• Carpooling
• Taking public transit

Food:

• Eating local (why: because locally produced food has a much lower carbon footprint than items that are shipped across the planet)
• Eating organic (why: because organic is healthier for our soil, our planet, and thus, our ocean)
• Embracing a plant-rich diet (why: producing certain meat has a high environmental footprint in terms of carbon production and water and land use.)
• Eating less dairy
• Buying food in bulk
• Composting food waste

Energy:

• Supporting clean energy sources - such as wind, solar, or geothermal.
• Switching to energy efficient light bulbs and LED lights
• Turning off electronics when not in use to save energy
• Getting a home energy audit

Community:

• Vote! (why: because voting for policy leaders who supporting strong climate policy helps to effect change)
• Working to spread awareness on the climate crisis
• Supporting sustainable companies and brands who are actively reducing their carbon emissions

and...

support our WSL One Ocean coalition partners and WSL PURE Grantees who are committed to finding solutions to reduce our climate impact!