King’s Baton Relay highlights conservation on International Day of Zero Waste
The Commonwealth Sport King’s Baton Relay continues to bring much-needed attention to ongoing ocean conservation efforts and interesting new solutions to plastic waste, with Barbados the current port of call on International Day of Zero Waste on 30 March.
For the first time as part of The King’s Baton Relay reimagined for a new era, Commonwealth Sport is partnering with the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) to deliver the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign.
The programme aim is for athletes and communities to come together to prevent one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth oceans and waterways and spark lasting change in how we view plastic pollution.
This global relay of plastic clean-ups is journeying through every Commonwealth nation and territory as part of The King’s Baton Relay, with Commonwealth Sport, its Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) and the Royal Commonwealth Society working together towards this common goal leading up to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Commonwealth Sport President Chris Jenkins said, “With special thanks to Longines for their support, The King’s Baton Relay is connecting the Commonwealth, uniting our communities, and celebrating culture, diversity, and, through our partnership with the Royal Commonwealth Society, a shared sustainable future.
“Commonwealth Sport is 74 nations and territories working together to provide a level playing field, where we can all celebrate diversity, see beyond difference and find common ground, such as through ocean conservation. The King’s Baton Relay will demonstrate this during the next 17 months as we head towards Glasgow 2026 celebrating our vision of the ‘Commonwealth, united through sport.”
The United Nations has identified plastic as the most harmful form of ocean pollution, with the Commonwealth being disproportionately affected due to nearly half of its members being Small Island Developing States.
The King’s Baton Relay is currently being celebrated in Barbados until Thursday 3 April. The Caribbean part of the Baton Relay will culminate in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday 14 June, before the Relay moves to Africa (15 June to 24 October), then Asia (25 October to 21 December), Oceania (2 January to 26 March 2026), Americas (27 March to 6 May 2026), and Europe (8 May to 23 July 2026).
For the first time ever, each of the 74 Commonwealth nations and territories will receive their own Baton, proudly crafted in Glasgow, and simpler than past Museum-style batons to allow CGAs to decorate their batons to showcase their own culture, creativity and vision. Batons can be painted, carved, or crafted – by artists, athletes or schools – and as simple or sophisticated as they choose.
The distribution of Batons means there will be no formal Baton handovers or costly, polluting travel and transit between nations and territories.
