Shopping bag.

Cyrill Gutsch is a man with a mission: To develop long lasting strategies and effective remedies for the crises facing the world’s oceans today. Known for his trademark glasses (he settled on them years ago after deciding it was frivolous—and wasteful—to keep buying different pairs), Gutsch is the founder of Parley for the Oceans, an organization that aims to find innovative and practical solutions to address the problems that plague our environment—over-pollution, over-fishing, and estuary deterioration. He raises awareness for his cause, one collaboration at a time. When first stepping into the stark, white Parley offices in downtown New York, you can’t help but feel as though something is missing— many things, in fact. The look is decidely Spartan with just the bare necessities; there aren’t papers or ornaments lying around, and each object serves a clear purpose.

The office is an embodiment of Gutsch’s philosophy: Use what you need, be thoughtful and smart in your purchases, and think about the practicality and environmental impact of what you use (trust us, Gutsch knows he’s asking a lot, but he tells us “it’s easier than you think”).

Gutsch wasn’t always this way, though. Getting his start in creative marketing and consulting early on in his career, his focus was on how to make money, not how to save the oceans. However, after deciding to form his own agency and draft a rough business plan on a long haul flight, Gutsch had a chance encounter with Pamela Anderson at Art Basel Switzerland (she was wearing a Sea Shepherd t-shirt). The pair got to talking about Captain Paul Watson, a marine wildlife conservationist and environmental activist who had been arrested, trying to prevent Japanese ships from killing whales. He awaited his sentencing in Germany. Almost immediately upon hearing of his plight, Gutsch hopped a plane to Frankfurt, and Parley was born.

Since its inception in 2012, Parley for the Oceans has partnered with creative individuals and companies such as Adidas, G-Star, Pharrell Williams, and Jefferson Hack to discuss how in collaboration, they and Parley can work together to create effective solutions and raise awareness— the type of change that has staying power to profoundly impact our earth. As it currently stands, all the coral reef ecosystems in the world will be gone by 2025. Leading environmentalists predict the end of most sea life in six to sixteen years. Most people are blissfully ignorant to these ugly truths—a fact that Gutsch is eager to change. One of his earliest supporters was artist Julian Schnabel, who was the first to step onboard by hosting the inaugural Parley for the Oceans talk. He remains a close confidante of Gutsch’s.

“What brings us forward is working together with environmentalists, scientists, artists, and designers, and ideally doing stuff together. I think that’s the ultimate moment where I feel Parley makes sense,” explains Gutsch. “At our Parley talks—which are a platform where we present key people and they present their approach and ideas for their collaborations—I always have that feeling that suddenly there is something magic in the room, where the unexpected can happen. This is the recipe of Parley. It’s a stage in combination with a workshop.” Schnabel created the Parley logo, helped garner worldwide attention, and brought along many of his compatriots to join in the Parley crusade. But why now, and why the oceans? Simply put, we don’t have time to wait.

As a young boy growing up in Germany, a trip to the sea did not come often. But when Gutsch did see the ocean, its magnitude and force stayed with him his whole life. “I grew up in the mountains, in the forest, so being at the sea was something so luxurious, so special and so unknown,” he explains. “There was always a very strong desire to be at the beach and to be in the sea, to be submerged in it. It kind of cleansed me. It was always a place in my mind I could travel back to and refresh, even if I couldn’t be there so often. The oceans mean a lot for me.”

Combining his love for the ocean with his mind for business, Gutsch hopes to form long lasting partnerships between creative individuals and companies in order to generate a powerful environmental message that will resonate with people. Hearing Gutsch speak about Parley is perhaps the biggest rallying cry of all. Of course, he’s aware of the challenges, but he has the ingenuity and drive to overcome those hurdles.