The FIA Formula E World Championship team has announced a major new initiative alongside Envision Energy India and EARTHDAY.ORG, committing to plant 500,000 mangrove trees in the Indian Sundarbans over the next five years.

Stretching across India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest and one of the most climate-exposed ecosystems on the planet. Rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion and increasingly intense cyclones are placing both biodiversity and local communities under severe pressure—making it a critical focus for nature-based solutions.

Against this backdrop, the initiative reflects a growing shift within sport: moving beyond awareness campaigns to deliver measurable, place-based environmental impact.

Turning fan engagement into environmental impact

At the heart of the initiative is Envision Racing’s Sustainable Chain programme, part of its wider Race Against Climate Change™ platform. The model is simple but increasingly influential: fan participation drives real-world outcomes.

Supporters are encouraged to make personal pledges—reducing single-use plastics, choosing more sustainable travel or lowering household energy consumption. These individual commitments are then aggregated to unlock funding for large-scale restoration projects on the ground.

Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director and CTO of Envision Racing, said:

“Our goal is to help drive direct action and to stimulate awareness and understanding of the challenges that this vibrant region faces. Through the Formula E platform, we can help bring the Sundarbans stories to a huge global audience.”

This approach reflects a broader evolution in how sports organisations engage their audiences. Rather than passive spectatorship, fans are increasingly positioned as participants in sustainability efforts—creating a direct link between behaviour change and environmental outcomes.

The programme builds on proven delivery. Through the Sustainable Chain, Envision Racing has already supported the planting of more than 250,000 mangroves in Madagascar, demonstrating both scalability and continuity in its environmental commitments.

Climate resilience on the frontline

The Sundarbans is widely regarded as one of the frontlines of the climate crisis. Coastal erosion, flooding and extreme weather events are already reshaping the landscape, with profound consequences for communities that depend on the region’s fragile ecosystem.

Mangroves offer one of the most effective natural defences available. They act as carbon sinks—storing up to four times more carbon than terrestrial forests—while also stabilising coastlines and reducing the impact of storm surges.

In this context, mangrove restoration is not only an environmental intervention but also a climate adaptation strategy. It provides a protective buffer for communities while supporting biodiversity and long-term ecosystem resilience.

The scale of the commitment—500,000 trees over five years—signals a long-term approach, aligning environmental restoration with sustained engagement rather than one-off initiatives.

Beyond environment: supporting communities

What distinguishes this project is its integrated social dimension. Under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme, the initiative aims to improve the lives of 18,000 women and 10,000 families through targeted support in health, nutrition, sanitation and education.

This reflects a recognition that climate vulnerability is closely tied to social and economic inequality. In regions like the Sundarbans, environmental degradation and human vulnerability are deeply interconnected.

The planting process itself is also designed to generate economic opportunity. By providing paid work in restoration activities, the programme supports livelihoods—particularly for widows, who are among the most socially and economically marginalised groups in the region.

RPV Prasad, CEO of Envision Energy India, highlighted the importance of this holistic approach:

“Mangrove restoration represents the kind of nature-based climate solution that can deliver impact at scale. By combining ecosystem restoration with public engagement through Envision Racing’s Sustainable Chain initiative, we have an opportunity to mobilise people around the world while supporting our local communities most affected by climate change.”

A model for sport’s role in climate action

This initiative underscores a broader shift in the sports industry—from advocacy to accountability, and from narrative to measurable impact.

By linking fan engagement directly to environmental outcomes, Envision Racing is helping redefine how sport can contribute to climate solutions. It also demonstrates the value of cross-sector collaboration, bringing together technology, business, civil society and global audiences around a shared objective.

There is also a growing expectation that sport should play a more active role in addressing systemic challenges such as climate change. Initiatives like this suggest that the sector is beginning to respond—not only through its own operations, but through its ability to influence behaviour and mobilise communities at scale.

While questions remain around measurement, long-term impact and replication across the wider sports ecosystem, the direction of travel is clear.

As the climate crisis accelerates, the role of sport will increasingly be judged not just by what it says, but by what it delivers. In that context, projects like this point to a future where the race for success is not only measured in podium finishes, but in the restoration of ecosystems and the resilience of communities.

Sign-Up to the Sustainable Chain