That the ocean is not infinite is clear to Emily Penn (Wales, 36 years old).
A seasoned sailor in the strong gusts of Penarth Bay, the small Welsh seafaring town where she grew up, the activist has been in the Argonaut war against plastic for more than a decade.
An architect by training, she never got to practice.
What she observed during a journey from the United Kingdom to Australia as soon as she graduated dragged her towards a life linked to the protection of the seas.
She co-founded eXXpedition, a crew of volunteers who sail around the world to collect data on microplastics, she is a member of the British Royal Geographical Society and in 2021 she was awarded the British Empire Medal at just 34 years old.
Dressed in navy blue, she rushes restlessly down the stairs of the Disseny Hub Barcelona,
where he has come to give a lecture at the REACT Economic Reactivation Conference.
She has a flight to London to catch, and she barely has five minutes to get her photos taken for this interview.
The taxi driver waits for her impatiently with the door open and his brow furrowed while the photographer shoots.
It is not only at sea, on dry land the commitment agenda is also pressing.
Ask.
Why did a recently graduated young architect decide to jump into the ocean in search of plastics?
Answer
.
I was born facing the sea and I have been sailing since I was little.
I even made my debut in the British sailing team.
After university, I got my first job in Australia, where I wanted to go by boat.
It was on that journey when I realized the great plastic pollution in the ocean.
I was 21 years old...
Q.
You spent time in Australia.
He came home and...
R.
Good (laughs).
I told my parents that I was not going to dedicate myself to architecture.
Q.
I can't imagine your face.
R.
Well, I think they already figured it out.
It had been three years since he had finished his degree and he still had not practiced.
And they already knew that he was up to something related to plastics.
Q.
Since then, how many miles have you sailed?
R.
80,000, at least.
Q.
The strangest plastic you have found?
A.
A tooth guard, like the ones rugby players wear.
In Tonga (Polynesia), we observe how plastics arrive from Asia.
And in Vancouver, the same.
Q.
Condemned to live in a plastic sea?
A.
It is very difficult to extract everything, but I am hopeful that the ocean can recover.
It will only be possible if we take pressure off him.
And you have to do it before it's too late.
There is hope.
Q.
Hope... on a planet of polluting humans?
R.
I think that, in individuals, there is no desire to pollute the ocean.
Neither I, nor you, nor your neighbor have it.
It is rather the products that push us towards it, the model.
Plastic is a material created to last forever, but designed instead to be used only once.
Emily Penn, researcher and advocate for the oceans.
Carlos Ribas
Q.
_
In other words, you have to target the industry more than individuals.
R.
You don't just have to put pressure on individuals.
We need to legislate so that the businesses that manage it well are successful and those that are not, are not.
Businesses need to transfer the money they earn into something positive.
And I am in favor of that being done through taxes.
Q.
In Catalonia, for example, there is a rate to tax cruise ships and polluting ships that dock in the port of Barcelona pending approval since 2017.
A.
(Sighs).
There is talk of environmental taxes on dry land.
But it is that there are problems to apply them in the sea.
It's hard, yes.
And especially in international waters, where there is no clear jurisdiction.
There are international laws, but when it comes to polluting, no one puts them into practice.
It is a challenge.
Q.
_
In his eXXpeditions project, the crew is all female.
Because?
R.
_
The idea was born after some analysis that I did.
In them, there were many of the chemicals that we were finding in microplastics in the sea.
I understood that this is a problem that is very focused on women, because they are a type of component that, being investigated, can end up being transferred to the fetus during pregnancy.
Q.
_
Have you stopped eating fish?
R.
_
Now I am much more cautious.
And not only with fish, but also with other products such as meat or vegetables.
Q.
Are your expeditions more awareness-raising than non-scientific?
A.
It is a combination.
Investigate to identify the problem, but also to communicate it.
reach everyone
Plastic in the ocean is so far removed from our lives... it's hard to imagine.
It is a problem that begins on dry land and that is where it must be solved.
Q.
_
It is sponsored by companies.
Have you ever been tempted by a polluting industry?
A.
We do a rigorous monitoring... But I must also say that I would be able to work with everyone, if I see myself able to influence them.
But I would never allow any image laundering, of course.
Q.
_
Have you rejected any?
A.
Yes. Companies in the plastic industry.
And also a major airline, which will allow me not to reveal their name...
Q.
Where before there were small fishing boats, now they dock yachts.
Today the sea seems to have been converted into a place for the privileged.
R.
Tourism contributes to the economy, but it also brings negative aspects.
It's somewhat extended.
It must be made sustainable so that it does not destroy the environment.
Q.
You are also the co-founder of a company, Pangea Exploration, which organizes voyages in which individuals pay to participate in research in places like Tahiti.
Are you comfortable with the definition of an entrepreneur?
A.
Yes. I think so.
Although I'm more of an ecological businesswoman.
Philanthropy is not enough to pave the way for change.
It's reality.
We need sustainable businesses to reach a more ecological planet.
You can follow CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT on
and
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I'm already a subscriber