The report is the federation’s second annual assessment of its impact and builds on its Sustainability Agenda 2030 and wider Ready for the Future 2025–2029 strategy. Importantly, it moves beyond commitments to provide increasingly measurable evidence of progress across the global sailing community.

World Sailing currently sits joint 46th in the GSS SPI Index with a high C – Purpose Established rating. It is ranked eighth among all Olympic international federations, across both summer and winter sports. The breadth of new evidence contained within the report could potentially move the federation into the C+ – Purpose Advanced category.

From ambition to measurable progress

At the centre of the report is World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda 2030, which contains 56 targets across six operational areas. During 2025, six further targets were completed covering climate action, biodiversity, governance and social inclusion.

David Graham, Chief Executive Officer of World Sailing, describes the direction as a move away from strong individual initiatives towards more integrated systems capable of delivering longer-term change.

“What stands out most in this report is that progress has come through partnership,” Graham said. “Member National Authorities, athletes, event organisers, industry partners and expert advisors have all played a role in turning ambition into action.”

That transition from activity towards measurable impact is significant. Rather than simply cataloguing programmes, World Sailing is increasingly demonstrating how sustainability considerations are being embedded into the structures and decision-making processes governing the sport.

Cutting sailing’s environmental footprint

Perhaps the clearest evidence comes from climate action. World Sailing reported a 59% reduction in its carbon footprint against its 2019 baseline, while its Clean Regattas programme expanded to 219 events – 43% more than in 2024. Seventeen of the 32 environmental targets within Agenda 2030 have now been achieved.

Clean Regattas is also becoming more ambitious. The number of events achieving Platinum status increased by 59% during 2025, while Silver-level events more than doubled. The programme now operates across 44 host nations, demonstrating how environmental standards are beginning to spread through sailing’s international competition structure.

World Sailing is also tackling one of sport’s more difficult sustainability challenges: equipment.

All eight Olympic sailing classes have committed to a comprehensive life-cycle assessment examining the environmental impact of boat production, use and end-of-life. From 2032, any class seeking Olympic inclusion will be required to submit an independently analysed LCA, meaning environmental performance will sit alongside sporting and technical considerations when decisions are made about Olympic equipment.

Alexandra Rickham, who recently left her position as World Sailing’s Director of Sustainability, said: “This project provides the evidence we need to make smarter choices and shape the future of Olympic equipment.”

The IOC’s Head of Sustainability, Julie Duffus, described the approach as “an important precedent”, demonstrating how environmental impact can be considered alongside performance when shaping the future of sport.

Protecting the environment where sailing takes place

For sailing, the relationship with nature is particularly direct. The sport depends upon oceans, coastal environments and healthy marine ecosystems.

World Sailing has therefore expanded its biodiversity work through its Marine Megafauna in Sailing guidelines, developed with the Marine Mammal Advisory Group. The framework addresses risks to whales, dolphins and other marine wildlife through improved data, risk assessment, reporting, technology, education and collaboration.

Damian Foxall, co-founder of the Marine Mammal Advisory Group, said: “These guidelines are a testament to the power of multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together the world’s best marine scientists with the sailing community. Every sailor can be a citizen scientist.”

Inclusion becomes a defining theme

The social side of World Sailing’s progress is equally significant.

Thirty-nine nations provided verified evidence of active Para sailing competition as part of the campaign for reinstatement into the Paralympic Games, exceeding the IPC benchmark. The process has also strengthened governance, evidence gathering and collaboration between Member National Authorities.

The inaugural World Sailing Inclusion Championships brought together 124 sailors from 28 nations, while the federation achieved a 50:50 gender balance on its Board. More than 1,500 users registered with the World Sailing Academy during 2025 and 43% of participants across Level 1 courses were women.

World Sailing President Quanhai Li said that: “These achievements reflect a simple but powerful idea: sailing moves forward when we work together. Across nations, programmes and people, we are building a sport that is more inclusive, more connected and better equipped for the future”

Building on the foundations

The significance of the 2025 Impact Report lies not simply in the number of initiatives being delivered, but in the evidence that sustainability is becoming increasingly embedded across World Sailing.

Strategy is being connected with targets, measurement and reporting, while environmental and social considerations are influencing areas ranging from governance and events to equipment, participation and education. The report also demonstrates a willingness to identify where progress remains incomplete rather than presenting sustainability as a finished journey.

That journey now enters an important new phase following Rickham’s departure, with World Sailing recruiting new sustainability leadership to take forward the programme.

For World Sailing, the challenge will be to build on the foundations established through Sustainability Agenda 2030 and continue the transition from individual initiatives towards the integrated systems highlighted by Graham.

The additional evidence could be enough to move World Sailing from its current high C – Purpose Established SPI rating to C+ – Purpose Advanced.

But the bigger story is the direction of travel. From measuring the life-cycle impact of Olympic equipment and reducing its carbon footprint to protecting marine biodiversity and widening access to the sport, World Sailing is demonstrating how an international federation can increasingly integrate sustainability and purpose into the way its sport is governed and developed.

The task for its next sustainability leader will be to build on that momentum and ensure that the progress documented in 2025 translates into deeper, measurable and lasting impact across sailing worldwide.