Exciting news! Reef-World has recently partnered with the French cosmetic company Caudalie through the 1% for the Planet movement. Caudalie is providing funding to enable Reef-World to begin implementing the Green Fins initiative in the Caribbean; specifically by engaging with the government of Antigua and Barbuda. The country has been requesting Green Fins training for a number of years so it’s great they can now be supported in this. Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism industry has been growing steadily for many years and there is a demand for best practice and standards when it comes to marine tourism activities from the businesses, communities and the government.
This partnership with Caudalie came about thanks to our involvement with 1% for the Planet and the consultative advice Caudalie received from PUR Project. There are several ways that businesses can be involved in 1% for the Planet programme, but one of the most impactful ways is through the company donating 1% of total sales across its operations to a selection of NGOs approved by 1% for the Planet. Reef-World was approved as a non-profit partner late in 2018 included in the directory of non-profit partners – which is how Caudalie discovered the charity and decided its mission was in line with Caudalie’s ethos.
Caudalie’s philosophy is based on having a low ecological impact. They have been a partner with 1% for the Planet since 2012, are involved in tree planting programmes and are against animal testing. The fact Caudalie is interested in helping to protect coral reefs is no coincidence: they have recently launched a new range of sun care products consistent with not having any known negative impacts on coral reefs. Previously conducted and independent scientific research shows that certain common sunscreen filters and ingredients, such as Oxybenzone and Octinoxate, are capable of causing coral bleaching, disrupting reproduction or damaging the coral DNA. Caudalie’s new range does not contain these or other known harmful ingredients that are commonly found in 3,500 sunscreen products worldwide.
Reef-World’s Director, James Harvey, was invited to join Caudalie’s recent UK press launch for the new sunscreen range to give a talk about the current situation of the worlds coral reefs and explain what coral bleaching is. Through kind permission from The Ocean Agency, clips from the award winning Netflix documentary Chasing Coral were shown to the 15 journalists to better explain the problem.
The event also provided the opportunity to educate key beauty and cosmetics journalists in the UK about how Caudalie is helping increase the resilience of coral reefs. This is through their two-pronged approach: by supporting Green Fins in Antigua and Barbuda to reduce the threats associated with SCUBA diving and snorkelling activities and through their precautionary approach to developing reef safe sunscreens without chemicals known to be harmful to reefs.
Reef-World is delighted to have such a bold and proactive partner onboard and looks forward to providing updates on the development of Green Fins Antigua and Barbuda in the coming months, the 10th government worldwide to adopt Green Fins!
