CLIMATE CHANGE

Electric motorsport fans make over 150,000 sustainability pledges

Envision Racing, the leading British Formula E race team, has revealed that it has successfully reached the milestone of over 150,000 climate positive pledges submitted as part of the Race Against Climate Change™ (RACC) initiative. 

Envision Racing, known as the ‘greenest team on the greenest grid’, launched the consumer-facing part of RACC, called the Sustainable Chain, to empower its fans and their communities to make green pledges and drive climate action in the wake of the UN’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. 

A major player in Formula E, Formula One’s electric counterpart, Envision Racing is planting a mangrove tree in Madagascar – through its tree planting partner Earthly and Eden Reforestation Projects – for every pledge made.

To date, there’s been both 150,000 pledges and planted trees. In total, fans’ actions have saved over 38 million kilograms of dangerous carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere.  

 

The Sustainable Chain campaign tasks fans with taking one of ten pledges to help save the planet. Via Envision Racing’s website, fans calculate their carbon footprint and then watch it diminish as they introduce green lifestyle changes. These include:  

  • Swapping to an electric vehicle 
  • Commuting by bike or public transport to work 
  • Sourcing local food 
  • Switching to a renewable energy supplier 
  • Making energy efficiency improvements at home 
  • Flying less 
  • Installing solar panels 
  • Reducing meat consumption 
  • Cutting down on water usage and producing less waste 

With an aim of inspiring one million pledges from individuals across the world, the scheme was launched in partnership with American teen actor Aidan Gallagher – star of Netflix’s Umbrella Academy series and a United Nations Environment Programme ambassador. He worked in tandem with the Envision Racing team to inspire climate action among his 25 million social media fans.  

“We have ambitious plans for the future of the Sustainable Chain campaign, with new celebrity ambassadors and media partners lined up to help us reach our target of one million climate pledges,” says electric racing pioneer Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director of Envision Racing. 

“At Envision Racing, we exist to energise the Race Against Climate Change, by creating experiences that accelerate the transition to clean, secure and affordable renewable energy. On and off the track, we raise awareness of the benefits of electric vehicles, but we also work to connect our fans with environmental issues and provide them with information on tangible actions that can drive real change. 

“While the impact of this campaign is focused on enabling our fans and wider audiences to reduce their environmental footprint, it is closely aligned with our overarching aspiration for Envision Racing to be ‘the greenest team on the greenest grid’ and our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and maintain our carbon neutral status.” 

Envision Racing was the first team in Formula E to be certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust in 2020. It is one of a handful of teams to have achieved three-star sustainability accreditation from motorsport’s global governing body, the FIA – an accreditation that was recently confirmed as having been successfully renewed.

The status recognises that the team retains the highest level of commitment to the environmental and sustainability goals set out by the governing body.

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“I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT 100!” – FORMULA E CENTURY FOR BUEMI

 

ENVISION RACING’S SÉBASTIEN BUEMI CELEBRATED 100 FORMULA E STARTS AT THE DIRIYAH E-PRIX AND LOOKS BACK AT A GLITTERING CAREER SO FAR

“Well, it means I’ve been there for quite a long time!”

These are the words of Envision Racing’s Sébastien Buemi when asked what it means to have competed in 100 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship races. However, there is way more to this impressive motorsport century than simple longevity.

Buemi’s motorsport career is the story of one of the most versatile racing drivers in recent decades. Whether it be in single-seaters or closed-cockpit LMP1 machines in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Swiss driver has done it all.

This has included a 55-race tenure in Formula One with Toro Rosso, plus a stint as a Red Bull Racing test driver. Since 2012, Buemi has won the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans four times and claimed the WEC crown three times, and is the reigning series champion.

At the Diriyah E-Prix, Buemi celebrated his 100th Formula E race with a sensational pole position in just his second qualifying session with Envision Racing, and scored more big points to end the weekend third in the championship standings.

“I’m still enjoying competing in Formula E,” affirmed Buemi. “Obviously, it’s nicer when you can start at the front and fight at the front, and so far this season we have done that. I’m very confident that Envision Racing have the right tools, and can give me the right environment to do well, and that is the most important thing to me.


“It was emotional to win the pole position for the first race in Saudi Arabia this year, but winning races is the main goal this season, but being currently third in a championship is a nice thing. Hopefully I can build up on that and still be strong later in the season. That would be mega.”

 

 

Buemi’s recent pace and form with Envision Racing is no surprise. He started the very first Formula E race ever held in Beijing, back in September 2014, and went on to win three times that season, finishing second in the championship standings.

In season two of Formula E, Buemi went one better, claiming the championship in the season finale on the streets of London in dramatic fashion, where he overcame rival Lucas di Grassi by just two points. Unsurprisingly, this title triumph ranks as one of Buemi’s fondest memories from a century of Formula E races.

“My first win in season one at the Punta del Este E-Prix in Uruguay was an incredible achievement for me personally and a definite career highligh” recalled Buemi. “Obviously beyond that, when I claimed the championship title in London 2016, and maybe my last win so far in New York, which was back in 2019 – that was a very nice moment.”

Despite being one of the most successful drivers in Formula E history with a championship title and 13 victories, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Buemi last stepped on the podium at the final race of the Covid-19 impacted season six in Berlin, and following that has endured a chastening couple of years

“The last two seasons for me have been hard,” admitted Buemi. “We were uncompetitive and it’s mentally been very difficult to deal with. On  top of that, I guess losing the championship in season one and season three was hard to take. Losing out in season three was  especially hard as  I had to miss two races because of WEC commitments, and that made it hard to fight back.”

 

Judging by the race and qualifying performances so far in 2023, it looks as if behind the wheel of Envision Racing’s Jaguar I-Type 6 the good times are back for Buemi. As the new faster and more efficient world of GEN3 gathers momentum, Formula E continues to push boundaries. For Buemi, it was a pleasure to have been involved in it all from the very beginning.

Reflecting on the early days of the series, Buemi stated: “I had no real expectation when I got into the car in Beijing as to what the future would be like for Formula E, so I was happily surprised by how professional and how big the whole thing was straight from the beginning. I hoped that the championship would grow quickly and that more manufacturers would join.

“I definitely did not expect it to grow as quick and as fast as it did, especially because attracting manufacturers and big teams to a new form of motorsport  is not something simple. Overall, Formula E has done well, and I’m obviously delighted that I was there for the first race, and I’m still there. and I’ve now done more than a hundred races. I’m looking forward to the next 100!”