Interview: Christine Spiten, WWF & Cleaning Up Ocean Plastics
Christine Spiten, Nor-Shipping’s latest #ACTION hero, is profiled here, explaining how she left Blueye for the WWF and a mission to stop the ocean’s plastics problem the problem at its source.
“Eight million tons.”
Christine Spiten lets the number sink in for a second … “That’s how much plastic enters the sea every year from our cities and rivers. It threatens not just local ecosystems and the wider environment, but also us – our food sources, our livelihoods, our very existence. It is the fastest growing environmental problem we face. And it demands action. Now.”
Empowering move
Spiten doesn’t like wasting time. The 30 year old Norwegian is a former national sailing champion, co-founded pioneering underwater drone company Blueye Robotics in 2015 – with the goal of making underwater exploration more accessible, for both individuals and industry – was shortlisted for Nor-Shipping’s Young Entrepreneur Award in 2017 and, in 2019, decided to use her passion and business network to help the World Wildlife Fund. She is now their Senior Advisor, Plastic & Circular Economy.
“I was sick of being at the ‘end of funnel’,” she explains.
“Through my work with Blueye I wanted to help people fall in love with the ocean. To both reveal and immerse them in the beauty beneath the waves, hopefully sparking a lifelong interest and passion. People care for things they experience, enjoy and understand. Blueye drones open up a new world of wonder.
“However,” she adds, “I also saw at first hand, through both research projects and commercial and recreational use, just how much pollution was entering our oceans. I saw it’s impact and felt, I don’t know… a little powerless. I wanted to change that. I wanted to help address the problem at its source – to try and block the funnel.
“But that,” she says with an air of marked understatement, “is a challenge.”
Plastic pollution in the Philippines. Photo Courtesy Norshipping
Collaborating for change
Spiten wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s rare to speak to someone that oozes this much ambition. She speaks with a calm, focused manner that belies the obvious energy she possesses. A quick look through her CV reveals various business founder and board roles – including a position as a co-Captain of EnterpreneurShipOne, an organisation working to tackle ocean challenges through collaboration and innovation – and an advisor job with Rev Ocean, Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke’s not-for-profit research organisation.
“This is what I love doing, working with the ocean” she states. “And if I can help affect positive change then it’s the ultimate win-win.”
And it looks like she’s already scored some double victories.
Spiten’s chief responsibility is to work with the corporate sector to help bring about transformation in how business addresses the use (and ownership) of plastics, helping enable a more circular economy and drastically reducing waste. Her remit ranges from engaging with FMCG firms through to political initiatives and collaborations. With her established business network and profile through Blueye, the maritime sector is an obvious area of focus. And initial success.
“I was delighted to announce our collaboration with the Grieg Foundation earlier this year,” she notes. “That’s a clear example of how we can work together with industry on a solutions-orientated approach – utilising commercial expertise and assets to deliver on environmental objectives.”
Local impact
The two partners have set their sights on the Philippines – both home to the majority of Grieg Group’s seafarers and, sadly, a major ocean polluter. The sprawling archipelagic nation is the world’s third most plastic-polluting country, after China and Indonesia, despite the fact that around half of its 100 million strong population depend on ocean fishing for their livelihoods.
maritime professional
