Antarctica is the only continent on Earth not naturally populated by humans – and yet the consequences of rising temperatures here will affect every person on this planet. 

LPF launched its Antarctica Programme in December 2016, following the successful establishment of the Ross Sea MPA. LPF’s vision is a protective chain encircling the continent of Antarctica. Our collaboration with the Antarctica 2030 Coalition aims to protect close to 7 million square kilometres of the Southern Ocean

When Lewis became the first person to swim across the North Pole in 2007, he demonstrated the effects of the climate crisis in the most visceral way. It should not have been possible to swim over the North Pole – that should have been frozen over.

Over the next two decades, Lewis watched his beloved Arctic training grounds change before his eyes. He swam across the world’s fastest moving glacier to demonstrate the speed and scale of Climate Change, and across the Red Sea to highlight the existential threat that warming seas pose to the world’s precious coral.

We pioneered the call for 30% of the world’s oceans to be protected by 2030 when Lewis Pugh swam the length of the English Channel in July 2018. We called our campaign 30×30. 

At the time, the United Nations’ marine conservation target was just 10% by 2020 – though conservation scientists were urging for more. Hundreds of nations have now committed to the goal of protecting at least 30% of our planet’s land, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans under the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Rivers are the arteries of our planet, and every one ultimately leads to an ocean. Oceans have no choice but to accept everything rivers bring. This can include vital organic nutrients, along with the fresh waters that stream from the highest points of our planet.

But it also means that a potentially toxic mix of discarded trash, industrial effluents and agricultural runoff end up in our rivers – with disastrous consequences for life in our waterways and oceans.

Plastic is everywhere – even, increasingly, in our own bodies. 

Plastic may be part of our modern world, but  our natural environments should not have to absorb our plastic waste. 

While governments, businesses and individuals work together to come up with solutions, and we await the rollout of the Global Treaty for Plastic Pollution, there are beaches and rivers to clean. LPF has participated in some of the world’s biggest beach clean ups, and we continue to pick up plastic wherever we go. We urge you to do the same.

Protecting oceans alone won’t solve the Climate Crisis, but Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) make our oceans more resilient to climate change. We simply cannot tackle climate change without including large-scale and proper ocean protection. 

Every LPF swim and expedition is linked to the protection and restoration of a marine or riverine system. To date, LPF has been instrumental in protecting over 3.5 million km² of ocean.