CLIMATE
CHANGE
OUR RESPONSE
Climate change is having an increasing impact on our daily lives, we’re seeing a rapid escalation in fires, drought, sea level rise, and floods. The changing climate also greatly affects oceans and coastlines.
The places we love are poised to be drastically altered in real time with events like permanent high tide, coral reef destruction, erosion and flooding.
Our mission to protect surf ecosystems is under threat. We must initiate both mitigation and adaptation to ensure resilience in our coastlines to meet the challenge.
OUR PLEDGE
We will add climate vulnerability to all of our analyses -such as Surf Conservation Indices, Regional Profile and Surfonomics – to prioritize where we work and add further value to a surf ecosystem.
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We will add climate vulnerability and resilience in our site selection for World Surfing Reserves, Surf Protected Area Networks and Endangered Wave campaigns.
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We will add climate resilience planning to our WSR and SPAN management planning processes.
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We will add specific climate resilience projects to our stewardship strategy, with a focus on restoration, green infrastructure and creative non-development solutions.
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We will actively seek to reduce and eliminate our own emissions within our operations.
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We will partner with coalition members who can add muscle and strategy to seriously reduce emissions
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We will support partners and communities who are most vulnerable to the effects of the changing climate.
Why should surfers care?
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FAQ
What is climate vulnerability?
Protecting waves is about so much more than surfing. There’s an entire surf ecosystem. And it’s about more than surfers.
From a conservation priority perspective, we are focused on places around the world where iconic surfing waves overlap with biodiversity hotspots and habitats that are critically important for marine conservation.
What is climate resilience?
The United Nations (U.N.) has set a target for global ocean protection at 10 percent of the coastal and marine areas by 2020 under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The U.N. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14) reaffirms this commitment. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has upped that target, calling for the protection of at least 30% of the ocean by 2030. STW’s goal of protecting 1,000 surf ecosystems is a marine protected area strategy in line with the global trajectory for increasing the protection and effective management of our oceans.
What is sea-level rise and how does it affect our coastlines?
We have a saying: a wave is never protected, but is always in need of protection.
It’s why a majority of our efforts are focused on creating Protected Areas – World Surfing Reserves and Surf Protected Area Networks. These programs require stewardship and ongoing engagement from community, regional and national agencies.
How does sea-level rise affect surf ecosystems?
We work in a large variety of places, including Chile, Mexico, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, The Maldives, Fiji, Costa Rica and more. Save The Waves works in areas most in need of protection – prioritizing by both proactive conservation efforts and reactive campaigns to specific threats. Analyzing the number of potential surfing waves, biodiversity hotspots, ecosystem types, existing marine conservation laws and capacity on the ground, we base our work in ten regions. Read more about our priority regions here.
What does ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’ mean in our work?
We have a saying: a wave is never protected, but is always in need of protection.
It’s why a majority of our efforts are focused on creating Protected Areas – World Surfing Reserves and Surf Protected Area Networks. These programs require stewardship and ongoing engagement from community, regional and national agencies.
HOW WILL ADAPTATION MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
We work in a large variety of places, including Chile, Mexico, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, The Maldives, Fiji, Costa Rica and more. Save The Waves works in areas most in need of protection – prioritizing by both proactive conservation efforts and reactive campaigns to specific threats. Analyzing the number of potential surfing waves, biodiversity hotspots, ecosystem types, existing marine conservation laws and capacity on the ground, we base our work in ten regions. Read more about our priority regions here.
Why should surfers be part of the conversation?
We have a saying: a wave is never protected, but is always in need of protection.
It’s why a majority of our efforts are focused on creating Protected Areas – World Surfing Reserves and Surf Protected Area Networks. These programs require stewardship and ongoing engagement from community, regional and national agencies.