man of style
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE PHILIPPE COUSTEAU MAKES ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION LOOK GOOD. BY DONALD CHARLES RICHARDSON
TOP RIGHT COURTESY BBC. BOTTOM LEFT AND NEXT PAGE COURTESY ADAM LARKEY.
hen Philippe Cousteau was a boy, he wanted to be a fireman. Then, on his 16th birthday, his mother and sisters gave him a present: a research trip to Papua New Guinea. Since then he’s been traveling the world, from enduring the cold of Antarctica to providing humanitarian aid in war-torn Sarajevo. A self-described “explorer, social entrepreneur and environmental advocate,” Philippe Cousteau is the 32-year-old son of Jan and Philippe Cousteau Sr. He is also, of course, the grandson of legendary Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau. “My grandfather taught me to always innovate... always question,” he says. “Each of us has the responsibility to make the world a better place.” Cousteau takes this responsibility very seriously. For him, exploring the connections between humans and the environment is as important as exploring nature itself. He is cofounder of Azure Worldwide, a strategic environmental design, development and marketing company. Along with green site design and planning, eco-tourism and new media, they’re using interactive gaming “to help people understand how their actions impact the environment.” Cousteau is also a special correspondent for CNN International, hosting the Going Green series and reporting on environmental and humanitarian issues. He serves on the boards of directors of The Ocean Conservancy, the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, the National Environmental Education Foundation and the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. He has also testified to Congress on ocean management and off-shore drilling.
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