During July and August 2018, Lewis Pugh became the first person to swim the full length of the English Channel, from Land’s End to Dover, in just his cap, goggles and Speedo swimming trunks, as dictated by Channel Rules.

The 528 km distance was the equivalent of 16 back-to-back English Channel crossings, and took a total of 49 days, many of them battling tides and weather.

The swim was a resounding success, and led to the British government announcing that it would be the first major economy to call for the protection of 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

When we started our campaign only 7 square kilometres of 750,000 square kilometres of seas around the UK were fully protected.

You read that right. A mere one hundred thousandth of UK waters were fully protected from exploitation.

The same held for British overseas territorial waters such as South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, one of the world’s most crucial biodiversity hotspots; less than 2% of these waters were properly protected.

This swim marked the beginning of a worldwide campaign to ensure that 30% of our oceans are fully protected by 2030.

The achievements of this campaign were a very good start.

• July – August 2018: The Long Swim begins at Land’s End in Cornwall on July 12 and ends at Dover on 31 August.
• August 2018: UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove is on Dover beach at the end to meet Lewis.
• September 2018: The UK becomes the first major economy to commit to a global target of protecting 30% of oceans by 2030.
• October 2018: Lewis addresses the Labour Party and Conservative Party conferences.
• December 2018: The UK Government increases protection by 264,000km2 in its Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
• January 2019: The Commonwealth rolls out its Blue Charter, an agreement by all 53 Commonwealth countries to actively co-operate to solve ocean-related problems.
• March 2019 Lewis delivers the main address at the Commonwealth’s 70th anniversary at Westminster Abbey.
• March – July 2019 Climate Emergencies are declared around the UK by 142 local councils responsible for 37 million people.
• May 2019: UK Government announces a Climate and Environment Emergency. 41 new Marine Conservation Zones are declared in English waters. The UK bans various single-use plastic items including straws, cotton buds, stirrers and micro beads.
• June 2019: The UK initiates a comprehensive review of MPAs with a view to creating Highly Protected Marine Protected Areas in English waters. Surfers Against Sewage announces that more than 70,000 tonnes of plastic were cleared from British beaches in the last year. The Foreign Office and its embassies around the world decrease their single-use plastic consumption by 98% in two years.
• July 2019: The UK Government announces a Net Zero Carbon target by 2050, becoming the first major economy in the world to do so.
• August 2019: The UK creates a new MPA around Ascension Island covering an area of 443,000 km².