Green Cross International and Pax Arctica launch the 2014 “On the Shoulders of Shackleton” Expedition to the Antarctic”
Geneva/Paris (PRWEB UK) 26 September 2014 -- A six-week expedition by Pax Arctica, in collaboration with the National Centre for Scientific Research/Pierre and Marie Curie University (CNRS/UMPC), Laboratoire LOCEAN and Green Cross International (GCI), will be launched on 5 October 2014 to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on polar regions and to gather scientific data, pictures and films of this remote part of the world.
Luc Hardy will lead a Franco-British team of nine professional adventurers, polar guides, scientists and sportsmen/women on this expedition retracing the 800-mile journey of celebrated explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton between ice-covered Elephant Island and the island of South Georgia in the Antarctic region.
Luc Hardy founded the Pax Arctica expedition platform to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on polar regions. Luc is also the Vice-President of Green Cross France et Territoires, part of the GCI network, a non-governmental organization addressing the inter-connected global challenges of security, poverty and environmental degradation.
During this expedition organized in partnership with GCI, data will be collected for oceanographic research including measurements of salinity, atmospheric dust and CO2 concentrations in ocean waters and currents to gain a better understanding of changes occurring in the oceans due to climate change.
“Our team will attempt to retrace part of the route of Shackleton’s expedition and we will trek and climb glaciers and mountain peaks”, said Luc Hardy. “We will also collect fauna observations and discuss our findings with interested scientists”, he added.
“As climate change reshapes the poles, there is a growing interest by many countries in these strategically important regions. This raises major security and environmental challenges”, said Green Cross Chief Operating Officer, Adam Koniuszewski, welcoming the pledges made by governments and the private sector at the UN Climate Change Summit in New York. He concluded: “Much more is needed urgently if we are serious about averting a climate catastrophe. Business as usual is not an option.”
The corporate partners include SOPRA and La Française among others.
The expedition can be followed on:
• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog
• Youtube
ENDS
For media inquiries, please contact:
Massimo Gonnella
Communications Officer
Email: massimo(dot)gonnella(at)gci(dot)ch
Mobile: +41 76 383 74 06
Office: +41 22 789 08 13
Website: http://www.gcint.org
About Pax Arctica
The Pax Arctica Initiative was created to promote awareness of the threats facing the Polar regions, to convey a global message of peace and to support the introduction of new ecological regulations for the Arctic region. Luc Hardy is the leader of the Initiative, he is an adventurer, author, and member of the Explorers Club. An engineer from Ecole Centrale Paris, he is president of Sagax, a US-based investment and advisory firm.
More information: http://www.paxarctica.org/
About Laboratoire LOCEAN
LOCEAN is a laboratory whose work is devoted to the study of ocean variability and their interactions with climate variability.
More information: https://www.locean-ipsl.upmc.fr/
About Green Cross International
GCI was founded in 1993 by Nobel Peace Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev and is an independent non-profit and nongovernmental organization advocating and working globally to address the inter-connected global challenges of security, poverty eradication and environmental degradation through advocacy and local projects. GCI is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, has offices in some 30 countries and runs local and regional projects around the world.
More information: http://www.gcint.org/water-for-life-and-peace
About SOPRA
Sopra is a leader in consulting, IT services and software development in Europe, providing assistance and guiding its clients to ensure the success of their complex transformation projects. Sopra is the partner of choice for large enterprises and organisations seeking the best usage of information technology to enhance their development and competitive edge. Sopra is a brand of the Sopra Steria Group, a European leader of digital transformation established in September 2014 following the merger of Sopra and Steria.
More information: http://www.sopra.com/en/home
About La Française
Over close to forty years, La Française has developed core competencies in third party asset management. La Française has a multi-affiliate business model organized around four core activities: securities, real estate, investment solutions and incubation. The group caters to institutional and private clients throughout the world. With 480 professionals and offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Madrid and Milan, La Française manages over 45 billion euros in assets. La Française has a unique and solid shareholder structure that associates a well-known bank, Credit Mutual Nord Europe, with company employees and directors and grants the group total independence in the daily exercise of its business activity.
More information: http://www.lafrancaise-group.com/en/
Christophe Lecureuil, Green Cross International, http://www.gcint.org/, +41 791031976, [email protected]
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