Sail to the COP continues to South America

After long deliberations about what to do now the COP in Chile is cancelled, Sail to the COP decided to continue its journey from Cabo Verde to South America.

Sail to the COP set sail for South America from Amsterdam four weeks ago. With 36 people they are sailing to COP25 in Chile to call for a fair and sustainable future of travel. On 30 October they received the news that the COP has been canceled and a new location still needs to be found. Yesterday they nevertheless lifted their anchor off the coast of Praia, Santiago (Cabo Verde) to start the Atlantic crossing towards Belém, Brazil.

The team have looked into all the probable different scenarios and have taken their original destination of South America into account as well. If the COP would be in Bonn in early 2020 they  can still be on time and meanwhile learn from sustainable travel ideas in South America and bring them back to Europe. If the COP would take place in Costa Rica the Regina Maris will change course to Central America, combining their next project Gap Year Atlantic with Sail to the COP.

They held a long session on board of the ship to hear everyones feelings and thoughts on the abrupt change of plans and the situation in Chile. The Sail to the Group participants prove to be a strong and resilient group after four intense weeks of sailing. After the initial shock and sadness the news brought, everyone came together determined to continue what we started: putting the climate impact of aviation on the international agenda.

In the events that have led to the cancellation of the COP there have been severe human rights violations. Everybody stand in solidarity with those protesting injustice and express compassion with those who were hurt and the families of those who were killed. The protests in Chile and the oppressive reaction to it is a very sad example of a general trend: governments do not hear their people enough in shaping new policies. We think that especially with climate policies all voices must be heard. In times of this climate crisis every industry needs to transform rapidly, including the travel industry. These transformations are a chance for governments, citizens and businesses to build new social structures that work for everyone. The Chilean government is missing that chance. We hope that they begin to listen to these unheard voices.

Out of our immense worries about the climate crisis and the lack of action by the travel industry, the team started working on their dream to bring young people to the place where their future is decided. The COP in Chile would have been one of these places, but they are confident they will find another way to share our solutions for a fair and sustainable future of travel. We, as one of their partners, will do our upmost best to make their dreams a reality.