ANNUAL REPORT 2023

Nordic Ocean Watch Denmark

CVR 39854082

Guided by our slogan "Tavaha” (Tag vare på havet -Take care of the Ocean) Nordic Ocean Watch Denmark’s (NOW) vision is to shape a global community where all individuals, both in Denmark and across the world, feel inspired and empowered to take care of the ocean.

Our mission is to motivate everyone to care for the ocean by involving them in meaningful, hands-on actions, promoting knowledge sharing, and fostering a community of ocean watchers with a shared commitment to protect our marine environment.

• Activation: We empower individuals to actively protect the ocean.

• Knowledge Sharing: We give the ocean a voice.

• Community: We foster a community of ocean watchers.

In the following sections are presented NOW’s achievements within each focus area in 2023. The annual report also includes NOW’s financial statements 2022 and an overview of financial partnerships.

Activation

Over the past year, NOW has made significant strides in our mission to protect marine environments. We organised seven cleanup events where 105 Ocean Watchers participated, and together, we managed to remove an impressive 135 kilograms of trash from the ocean. The graphic below shows the percentage per category.

Additionally, we expanded our team by recruiting four more cleanup coordinators, bringing the total to seven cleanup coordinators.

Knowledge sharing

NOW’s “Did you know” campaign (#DYK) where the weight of each trash category collected the specific year, is compared with the weight of a corresponding everyday item, has become an annual recurring campaign. It is launched in the beginning of the following year as a way to kick-off a new great year with cleanup events. The Knowledge sharings teams main focus in 2023 was to develop school material for primary schools, and have that ready for launch as the new school year (23/24) started. However, through the work process the team decided to make some major changes in the format of the material, to improve its possible applications and thereby the learning potential. This entailed a delay in finishing the material, but ultimo 2023 NOW could send the first ever Tavaha School Booklet (for primary schools 7th to 9th grade) to printing, and the school booklets are now ready to be distributed to schools in 2024. 

Community and online communications

In terms of its online presence, NOW’s audience increased 32% in 2023. NOW’s website had 5.8K unique visitors and 16K page views.

NOW’s social media channels have also shown a positive audience increase, with 6.5% more followers on Facebook and 5% more followers on Instagram, currently at 2,084 and  2,017 respectively. NOW’s new LinkedIn account currently has 170 followers (status update February 2024), a 26% increase compared to 2022.

In 2023, NOW continued the #ArtforOcean campaign, featuring artists dedicating their work to the oceans and/or collaborating with NOW, continued with 'Did you know?' posts in collaboration with NOW’s biologists, and celebrated international days connected to the oceans and the environment, e.g. Earth Day, World Oceans Day and World Cleanup Day. NOW also continued to post regularly about the cleanups that were held throughout 2023, sharing cleanup information, updates, photos from the cleanups, and data about the trash collected.

With support from Ocean Outdoor Denmark and the Drops in the Ocean campaign, NOW shot a short video presenting the organisation, which was shown in shopping centres all over Denmark for 3 weeks in July 2023. Last but not least, NOW again participated with its own booth in the International Citizen Days, hosted by the municipality of Copenhagen to engage the expat community in volunteering.

Partnerships & support

In 2023 NOW continued the financial partnerships with corporate partners GreenSpeak, Organic Basics (via Beam Impact) and Økofamilien. NOW also began a new successful partnership with Ocean Outdoor Denmark and Knowledge Cotton Apparel during 2023.

NOW is very happy for the continued cooperation and interest from corporate partners, which provide the financial foundation for NOW, making NOW able to carry out its vision and mission of protecting the ocean.

Furthermore, since becoming a part of 1% for the Planet and Benevity in 2021, NOW also receives  smaller on off donations from companies wanting to support our work, and these partnerships therefore also continue to involve more business and individuals in the environmental movement.

In addition to the corporate partnerships, NOW continues strong partnerships with our NGO and Academic partners, including both local and international organisations in order to increase the organisation’s outreach and impact. In particular NOW continues the partnership with Aalborg University in relation to the research project on microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, which began in 2021.

Financial statements

NOW has closed the year 2023 with a profit of DKK 40,056, compared to DKK 179,248 in 2022.

The organisation has received donations for DKK 90,383, equal to a 58 % decrease compared to 2022. Donations were mainly received from partners, and in residual part from other donors, particularly through the Benevity community impact fund, and from collaborators related to our projects like “Art for ocean”.

Operating expenses were DKK 50,327 in 2023, an increase of DKK 12,065 compared to DKK 38,262 in 2022. The development was led by Marketing & Online branding expenses, mainly attributable to the Ocean Outdoor photoshoot for the project “Drops in the Ocean”, that resulted in a short promotional video of Nordic Ocean Watch being played in the main shopping centres of Denmark; by Social events expenses, related to recurring teambuilding events, “Tavahangs", organised in the year; and cleanup expenses, mainly for car rentals expenses to move the cleanup equipment to the various locations. 

Administration expenses slightly increased compared to 2022, while savings were registered in Expeditions expenses and just like in 2022 no expenses were borne for Knowledge sharing.

No extraordinary or financial expenses occurred in 2023.

The financial position has also improved in 2023, with a balance of Cash at bank of DKK 468,421 as of December 31, 2023, compared to DKK 428,365 as of December 31, 2022. Consistently with 2022, also in 2023 NOW does not have any liability in its balance sheet. Equity is exclusively composed of profit for the period and retained earnings generated by the profit of 2022.