French International Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCIs) network on the move for the oceans!

“After two years of pandemic, we wanted to recreate links and conviviality within the network, while giving meaning to our CSR commitments. This is how the idea of creating an internal competition with SquadEasy, for the benefit of The SeaCleaners, was born”, explains Anicia OESER, Head of Communications for the CCI France-International network, who initiated the project.

Named CCIFI Challenge, the participative operation takes place between the two symbolic dates of 22 April, Earth Day, and 8 June, World Oceans Day, to better underline the network’s strong commitment to environmental protection.

The concept? A tournament, hosted by the SquadEasy mobile application, where participants, gathered in teams, have to take up a daily physical and sports activity challenge to accumulate points. The programme includes daily running, walking and cycling events, as well as knowledge tests on general culture and on the countries in the CCI FI network. Each challenge taken allows the team to earn points and move up in the rankings.

But the challenge is not only about competition. A solidarity mission, in aid of The SeaCleaners, gives all the teams in the challenge a common objective. Participants earn points, cover kilometres or take steps for a common cause: the oceans. The objective of this mission is to cover 80,000 kilometres, twice around the planet, to raise €10,000 for the association.

“80,000 kilometres is the distance that the 1.5 million single-use plastic bags used in the world would travel every 10 minutes if they were tied together! These are staggering figures. By encouraging our employees and the member companies of the chambers in the CCI FI network to take up the challenge of travelling 80,000 kilometres together, we are also making them aware of the extent of this pollution,” continues Anicia. “That’s the whole point of our partnership with The SeaCleaners: to raise awareness, to raise consciousness, to mobilise.

To take this approach even further, participants also receive notifications on their phones to raise awareness of ocean protection and tips on eco-actions suggested by The SeaCleaners.

Ten CCIs in Asia, Europe and North America are taking part in the CCIFI Challenge: Belgium, Canada, Dubai, Madrid, Hungary, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan and Boston. 200 teams from some 60 companies are competing in a spirit of fun.

The SeaCleaners and the CCI France International network have been partners since June 2020. The CCIFI Challenge, which combines sustainable mobility, team spirit, responsible behaviour and support for the cause of the oceans, further accelerates the work done together to engage economic players and place companies at the forefront of the fight against ocean plastic pollution.