LAST UPDATE: 29/03/2023

The team backed by Santander Private Banking began its climate change campaign in the Arabian Desert to spread awareness of desertification and waste pollution along the Red Sea coast.

This year's ACCIONA | SAINZ XE team, formed by Laia Sanz and Mattias Ekström, took to the desert of Neom, Saudi Arabia, for the competition's first race, the Desert X Prix, to spread awareness about climate change.

The team, sponsored by Santander Private Banking, couldn’t have had a better start. This year, rallies have two final rounds at each venue. The ACCIONA | SAINZ XE team's first and second-place finishes have propelled it to the top of the leader board.

On the Red Sea coast, Desert X Prix sought to raise awareness among rally fans of climate change, desertification and the harm of waste pollution on the local ecosystem.

The ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team, sponsored by Santander Private Banking, in the Saudi Arabian desert

Preserving biodiversity and the environment

Extreme E promotes its “Legacy” programme at each rally venue to galvanize the fight against climate change and aid communities that are bearing the brunt of it.

In Neom, the focus was on reforesting the area and restoring indigenous plants and wildlife. Sanz and Ekström visited Neom’s Nature Reserve, where they helped reintroduce endangered species, like oryx, red-necked ostriches and sand gazelles, bred in captivity for over a century, to the wild.

A promising season

Desert X Prix was the first race in season three of Extreme E, which offsets all its emissions. The rally will return to the world’s areas hit the hardest by climate change to spread awareness.

The next race, Hydro X Prix, will take place in Scotland on 13 and 14 May.

Extreme E's climate change campaign enables Santander Private Banking to contribute to society's fight against climate change and accelerate the needed transition to a low-carbon economy through motorsport. 

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