Dear FIM AFRICA FMNs,
The FIM AFRICA Environment Chairman, Marius Matthee, will host an Environmental Seminar on Wednesday, 21st September 2022, between 19h00 and 21h30 (CAT).
The seminar is open to all delegates but will only be held in English, it would be appreciated if this information could be distributed to your FMN members who might be interested in attending.
Please register by clicking on the link below and note that the registration deadline is 19th September 2022.
Today we are closing the 2022 FIM Sustainability Week celebrating the World Environmental Day and we want to call to action to all our National Federations in the six Continental Unions and the members of the wider FIM Family to recognise the urgency to practice sustainable motorcycling.
We call our members to apply and respect our regulations, adapt sustainable strategies that add value to our championships, that support the local communities, that use the sport as an enabler of sustainable development.
We are aware of the severe climate crisis, and we are contributing to the mitigation avoiding, reducing, researching, changing mentalities and contributing with projects aimed to neutralise the non-avoidable emissions. This is a call to be more inclusive and to also respect the biodiversity.
We want to have motorcycling capable of changing behaviours and to be a contributor in the local community. Motorcycling that could serve as a laboratory for testing new technologies, alternative energies, and more secure mobility. Motorcycling is also a generator of well-being, an educator in security practices and a contributor. The task is not easy, but not impossible.
Today, we recognise that we have #OnlyOneEarth and #OnlyOneTrack
Jorge Viegas
FIM President
#OnlyOneEarth is the 2022 slogan that was taken from the slogan adopted in Sweden in 1972 during the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
World Environment Day is Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually on 5 June since 1973. World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world. This year it is hosted by Sweden and celebrate by the FIM since 2006.
The FIM – International Motorcycling Federation challenges all National Motorcycling Federations and organisers to organise various initiatives in the field of sustainability and for this purpose the FIM Sustainability Week was created.
The objective of this week is to promote initiatives in the field of sustainability with federations and clubs around the world, in order to contribute positively to the 2030 sustainable development programme, touching on economic, social and environmental aspects.
Today, the Escuderia de Castelo Branco, with the support of the FMP – Portuguese Motorcycling Federation and with the collaboration of the FIM Environmental Stewards, will hold the first Mini Enduro training, where children and young people participating in the national Mini Enduro championship and from the Escuderia Castelo Branco Enduro School will be able to practice the sport with Portuguese riders Gonçalo Sobrosa (Beta Portugal) and Rita Vieira (Yamaha Motor Portugal) who compete in World Championships.
Thus, the youngest will be given the opportunity to have a completely free internship with international riders, also promoting sustainability and Enduro among the youngest, encompassing the preservation of the environment in competitions, the separation of waste, healthy eating, amongst other important topics.
Young riders will also have the opportunity to try out some electric motorcycles, with this internship taking a futuristic approach, as Portugal is now starting to take the first steps in electric vehicles in the motorcycling championships.
The city of Castelo Branco, the motorsports park and the Enduro School will also be promoted in a sustainable way.
Pedro Mariano, FMP Enduro Commission President said: “The trio – Sport, Youth and Sustainability are inseparable. In motorcycling, Enduro is an excellent example due to all the measures adopted to minimise the impact on competition – ecological mats, ecological tyres, control of sound emissions, Selectivity of Places…There is nothing better than raising awareness among the little ones, and for that the Mini Enduro is the ‘School’ for training, not only for the rider, but also for the education of young promises. I think that actions like the ones we are carrying out are of vital importance for the sustainability and continuity of our sport.”
António Sequeira, Escuderia Castelo Branco President added: “The idea of this first training came up at Escuderia Castelo Branco, between the Management, Environmental Stewards and the School of Enduro, we accepted the challenge and got together in favour of sustainability and quickly the International Motorcycling Federation and the Portuguese Motorcycling Federation joined forces to this project, included in the FIM Sustainability Week 2022, for future generations of the Enduro Universe. The Escuderia Castelo Branco’s main objectives are to be a step ahead in sustainable development and to promote awareness of the conservation and protection of the environment.”
Kattia Juarez, FIM Director of the Sustainability Commission concluded: “Within our sustainability strategy, the support for the younger riders is essential. This project aligns with our environmental education and awareness programme. We wanted to support this because it has been conceived and organised by two FIM Environmental stewards who recently obtained their international licences and now we can see the fruits of our programme. We are sure this project will be a real success.”
The Spanish born circuit racer María Herrera is the latest rider to be inducted as an FIM Ride Green Ambassador and will join Takahisa Fujinami, Greg Hancock, Marc Márquez, Randy de Puniet, Alex Salvini, Laia Sanz, Pablo Quintanilla and Jeremy Seewer in working for future generations by promoting a culture of sustainability in their day-to-day practice of sport and in their everyday life.
Multi FIM MotoGP World Champion Marc Márquez was the first ambassador to be appointed when the programme began back in 2012. Since then, further ambassadors have been added to the programme who represent different genders and cultures, motorcycling disciplines and geographical areas, this diverse team of top riders lend their voices to convey the FIM’s sustainability policy and help to safeguard the future of the sport.
María Herrera was the first female competitor to win a race in the FIM CEV Repsol series, winning the Moto3 race at Motorland Aragón for the Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 squad in 2013. She added a second victory later in the season at Circuito de Navarra and led the championship into the final round at Jerez. Through her racing she has shown that she has the worthy values and class to join the Ride Green team in this important mission, which puts top athletes at the service of humanity and the future generations.
Herrera, who is now competing in the FIM Enel MotoETM World Cup, is fully aware of the responsibility that a rider of her stature must promote better practices in the sport and champion for a sustainable sport. Hence, she is ready to accept her mission, which will include representing the FIM in sustainability activities; Supporting the campaign through social media; Be the FIM Voice for the Ride Green Campaign.
Maria recognises that the riders have a responsibility to contribute to campaigns such as Ride Green and recognises the voices of the Ambassadors are a powerful force that can captivate millions of fans. Sport represents a very valuable vehicle for the shift in mindsets – with small changes that are simple to adopt but represent a major contribution to the crisis and to mitigating climate change.
Explaining about her new role María Herrera stated: “Obviously I am very happy and proud to have been appointed as an FIM Environmental Ambassador. To join this elite and hand chosen group of riders who have such a great record on the track but also in terms of social responsibility is a real honour for me. As a rider, and in particular a female rider, who is competing in one of the most major motorcycling electric championships in the World I know that I can influence others, and therefore I want to use my visibility and my voice to promote sustainability in all forms. How we act today will impact on future generations, so it is our joint responsibility to live and ride in a sustainable way.”
Elisabetta Ripa CEO of Enel X Way expressed: “We are delighted that Maria has been invited by the FIM to be a leader and play a significant role in the contribution made by our sport to achieve a more sustainable World.Particularly now with the experience in competing in the FIM MotoETM World Cup and the knowledge of the Electric mobility through the support of Enel, a global leader of renewables and the experience of Enel X Way as a Smart charging partner of MotoE, is fully aware of the responsibility that a rider of her stature must promote better practices in the sport and champion for a sustainable sport.”
Kattia Juárez, Director of the FIM International Sustainability Commission remarked: “Maria Herrera is the ideal candidate for the FIM team of Environmental Ambassadors, and she is the missing link to complete this group. Maria is a dedicated rider, and she represents consistency, dedication and, she competes in a championship that is crucial for the energy transition for future mobility. We are sure that Maria will bring so much to our now long-established programme.”
Picture Caption: Maria Herrera – FIM Enel MotoETM World Cup in Mugello © PSP
In December of 2021 the United Nations adopted the Sport as an enabler of sustainable development. The FIM over the last thirty years has been able to realise that ambition through concrete environmental protection regulations and a holistic approach to sustainability.
This environmental protection has been evolved and now we add effort to join the global agenda by supporting most of the sustainable development goals through the different dimensions of motorcycling. We have seen the evolution of our objectives over three decades and how our stakeholders have also evolved to forge a better future and have become sustainability drivers with events more than a game.
From facing numerous challenges such as restrictive legislations, mandatory use of unleaded fuel, sound level regulations, increasing public and media debates about carbon emissions, cancellations of several circuits, it was these events why the FIM acted exactly thirty years ago. It was during the 1992 General Assembly in Columbus Ohio that the first environmental working group was set up and the first environmental code was proposed and presented for the first time in 1993 and approved one year later during the General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. This became the first code of its kind and is now translated to more than eight languages. Over the following years several projects were developed converting to successful programmes and from which materialised a strategy that now drives the purpose of the organisation.
A structured programme focused on the education of the more than two hundred Environmental Stewards that work in every FIM event is the key to the sustainability strategy followed by a comprehensive programme aimed to control and provide mitigation measurements for those unavoidable by the application of strict regulations and control tools supported by the FIM environmental stewards, delegates and expert members of the International Sustainability Commission. Other programmes based in awareness and communication such as the Ride Green Ambassadors, KISS programme (Keep it Shiny and Sustainable), grassroot oriented campaigns such as the Ride Green Cup, Environmental Trophy amongst others.
The efforts in the matter of climate are now a reality with the announcement of the transition of traditional to alternative energies in the grand categories such as MotoGP ™, reduction in the use of tyres, electric championships, promotion of sustainable transportation at the events, until we reach neutralisation of all unavoidable emissions of the big motorcycling events including the administration.
Ride Green Programme is the big umbrella that embraces all the programmes mentioned above that has become the flagship sustainability programme and it is now recognised globally.
Last year the International Sustainability Commission, CID, launched the revamped sustainability strategy based on the most important topics collected by a series of consulting and workshops. The six pillars of this strategy are: People, Sustainable events, Governances, Climate, Sustainable Development Goals and Awareness.
Jorge Viegas, FIM President: “Making sustainability a priority futureproofs our organisation and our sport. Environmental protection and conservation have been a priority for the FIM for three decades, and I’m proud to lead an organisation that has been so committed and consistent on this issue for such a long period of time. Although it is clear that we must do more; climate change and environmental degradation threaten every aspect of our existence. We believe that the FIM and wider motorcycling family can play a significant role in combating this crisis through innovation in low-carbon alternatives and the awareness we can generate through our world-class events and championships.”
Kattia Juarez, Director of the Sustainability Commission: “To be part of this history and to have contributed for twelve years to the success of this campaign is really an honour, but also a great responsibility. The FIM and motorcycling in general is a very complex sector and that contributes from different angles to the achievement of our sustainability objectives, though also requires the joint effort and participation and effort from the whole team. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person and stakeholder who have played their part over the last three decades. Together we will continue to create a better future.”
Promote Sustainability in your Community and please do not forget to tag us @fimridegreen #FIMRideGreen
FIM AFRICA 