Climate Change Capital's Inspire Antarctic Expedition 2008

At 6.27pm on Saturday March 15th the MV Usuhaia warped out from the port with which it shares its name, headed down the Beagle passage (named after Darwin’s ship) and into the open ocean. The gentle 3m swell in the Drake’s passage was all that remained from the storm of the last 48 hours and the ship made good headway accompanied for some time by a solitary albatross riding the uplift generated by the heaving swell. At 4.48am this morning (March 16th ) the ship crossed into the Southern ocean experiencing a rapid drop in both air and water temperature. Eyes all peeled for icebergs!

Since arriving bleary eyed at Usuhaia on the morning of Wednesday 12th after a 24 hour trip from London my experiences have been varied. The group has taken part in several leadership and team building exercises, climbed to the foot of a now retreating glacier and sunk a few cervezas (Quilmes and Beagles). A mixed bag of individuals getting to know each other, making friends and learning from shared experiences.

There’s Susanna the photographer from NYC, Marcus an ex-senior executive with BP, Nicola who manages the environmental impacts of N Power’s power stations, Lauren the former singing sensation (big in Germany) turned people manager, Sue an installation artist from Atlanta, Georgia, David with Asada, Claire who will manage more of BP’s communication programmes in sustainability and of course Roy who studies under CS Kiang at Beijing University, plus many others too numerous to mention. So I’m making friends. I’m also sharing a cabin with “Jumper” a former Royal Marine and now safety specialist – so to paraphrase Cypress Hill “if the ship goes down, I’m gonna be ready”.

I gave the first of my presentations on climate change yesterday, some basic background which will be highlighted by the changing nature of Antarctic landscape we are all so eager to visit. It went well. How interested they’ll all be when we kick into marginal cost abatement curves remains to be seen.

We heaved too at lunch today and as we all shuffled out of the dining area and on to the deck there it was – our first iceberg! A surreal sight in open sea and a special moment suddenly shattered by the general rush to digitally document. An experience I will never forget and one that will be difficult to pixulate. Plenty of whales but no penguins yet (Sorry Bonnie and Helen they tell me I’m not allowed to bring one back) “Team Inspire, Team Inspire, Team Inspire” is echoing over the loudspeaker – land ho! me hearties. I’m going to go outside now, I may be gone sometime……

James’ initial thoughts on climate change…

In the sense of being personally inconvenienced, experiencing an extreme weather event or having to change my behavior (other than voluntarily) climate change hasn’t really had an impact on me. I’m however one of a few, but growing number of people, who have been able to work for companies that recognize combating global warming is an economic opportunity as well as an environmental necessity.