Veloce Racing first Extreme E team to sign up to United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework
- Veloce continues to set pre-season pace in Extreme E through off-track initiatives
- UN Framework pledge underscores commitment to work towards climate neutrality
- Signing builds upon recent announcement regarding pre-season carbon measurement and offset
- The Number 5 racing team reveals the rationale behind its choice of car number
- Team aiming to harness sport’s unique power to spark wider societal change
Veloce Racing has become the first Extreme E team to sign up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s ‘Sports for Climate Action’ initiative. Building upon recent announcements, this latest commitment further underscores the squad’s determination to set the pace both on and off-track in the pioneering new electric racing series.
As a sport with a purpose, Extreme E is driven by the need to promote a sustainable low-carbon future – a vision similarly espoused by Veloce, which was founded last year as an expansion of the hugely successful Veloce Esports operation.
Through its participation in Extreme E, Veloce Racing is aiming to stimulate climate awareness and action amongst global citizens. The team intends to accomplish this by engaging actively in the climate neutrality journey, adopting responsibility for its own carbon footprint and incentivising action beyond sport to take meaningful and transformative steps towards a sustainable future for our planet.
In-line with the five core principles enshrined in the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, Veloce will strive to:
Veloce will incorporate these five key principles into its strategies, policies and procedures both at and away from race events in 2021 and beyond. Dedicated to spearheading the progress towards mass EV adoption worldwide through its Extreme E participation and communications, the team will set an example and create compelling content with which to educate and engage audiences and promote changing behaviour towards issues of climate change.
What is often overlooked, and is one particularly unwelcome by-product of climate change, is increased gender inequality. Women are disproportionally affected by poverty, and of the estimated 26 million people displaced from their homes every year by climate-related disasters, 80% are women and girls. Alongside climate change, this is another key issue upon which Veloce Racing and Extreme E are aiming to shine a spotlight through their mutual endeavours.
Daniel Bailey, CEO and Co-Founder, Veloce Racing, said:
“We are immensely proud to be the first Extreme E team to join the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action initiative. Like everybody, we have a responsibility for our climate footprint and steps such as this and our recent partnership with ALLCOT Group demonstrate our firm commitment to playing our part in keeping our planet safe and healthy for future generations.
“Our status as a professional international sports team in an exciting new global series equips us with a platform to be a leader in the battle against climate change. It was with the UN’s five principles in mind and Sustainable Development Goal Number 5 – gender equality – that we chose Number 5 for our racing team. Extreme E is a race we want to win, but the race against climate change is one we must win.”
Veloce Racing signs up to the UN 5 principals
Sport’s contribution to environmental degradation – through associated travel, energy use, construction, catering and so forth – is considerable, but by the same token, athletes, teams and championships possess a unique power to spark wider societal change and mobilise millions of people through fans’ admiration for and emulation of their sporting heroes.
Its global appeal to every cross-section of society – allied to extensive media coverage – means sport can and must play a leading role in tackling the most urgent issue of our time, while inspiring large audiences to do the same.
Last month, Veloce became the first Extreme E outfit to commit to a net-zero carbon target, in joining forces with sustainability solutions provider ALLCOT Group to measure and help offset all of the team’s pre-and in-season carbon production.
Its signatory to the Sports for Climate Action Framework takes that commitment one step further, and Veloce will work closely with Extreme E to identify and highlight key environmental threats in each of the five race locations – the Saudi Arabian desert, Lac Rose in Senegal, the Arctic Circle in Greenland, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and Argentine Patagonia – while engaging fully in the series’ ‘Legacy Programme’, designed to leave behind a positive and lasting impact.
Lindita Xhaferi-Salihu, Sports for Climate Action Lead, UN Climate Change, said:
“Motorsport has a huge global following, and Extreme E as a discipline looks primed to set new standards for what a successful international series can achieve. Not only does it promise thrilling racing, but the championship’s commitment to sustainability and changing people’s ways is quite unprecedented.
“In becoming the first Extreme E entrant to sign up to the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework, Veloce Racing is truly a pace-setter amongst its peers, and the team clearly has some excellent ideas in the pipeline regarding how it plans to engage with its fans in the drive for climate neutrality. It is a journey that we plan to follow with great interest.”
Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E, added:
“It is great to see teams and partners signing up to various environmental initiatives, and taking Extreme E’s lead on its mission to encourage us all to take positive action to protect our planet’s future. I applaud Veloce Racing on pledging its commitment to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, a set of principles at the heart of Extreme E and its commitment to climate protection.”
About Veloce
Veloce is a London-based organisation that focusses on disruptive areas of the sports and entertainment industries – specifically, esports and sustainable, EV motorsport. The brand comprises established professional gaming organisation, Veloce Esports and Extreme E outfit, Veloce Racing with both teams falling under the overarching Veloce umbrella. As a whole, the business occupies the fastest-growing sectors in motorsport.
Veloce Racing was born from Extreme E’s vision of sustainability-focussed, content-rich and gender-equal sport. The team’s remarkable leadership line-up is spearheaded by legendary Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey and Formula E Champion and ex-Formula 1 driver Jean-Éric Vergne. They are joined by a host of other industry entrepreneurs and innovators who are eagerly awaiting the start of the inaugural 2021 season. Extreme E is an innovative new motorsport championship that sees electric SUVs going head-to-head in areas of the world that have been damaged by climate change or environmental issues.
The Veloce Esports’ driver stable includes many high-profile drivers, influencers and teams from across the globe. Among them are the official McLaren Racing, Alfa Romeo, Sauber and YAS HEAT esports programmes as well as YouTube sensations Tiametmarduk, Aarava, Xpertgamingtech and Lando Norris’ Quadrant channel to name but a few. The organisation’s digital broadcast network, across its various channels, generates in excess of 190 million views per month.
To learn more, please visit: www.veloce-racing.com or www.veloce-esports.com
Sources: