The broadcast, from 406 feet below sea level in the vessel Ocean Zephyr, was part of Faure's expanded efforts to campaign for a better understanding of how sea level rise will affect island nations such as his. In 2018, the Seychelles declared 81,000 square miles of water in the surrounding area as protected; the goal is to protect 30 percent of its natural waters by 2020. The protection limits fishing and tourism in the area.

The country is an archipelago made up of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, about 930 miles off the coast of East Africa. It became independent from the United Kingdom in 1976 and is now a member of the African Union. Faure, the country's fourth president, has been in office since 2016. He was elected vice-president in 2015 and became the head of state when then-President James Michel resigned.

Faure's broadcast was part of a mission exploring the depths of the Indian Ocean. The Nekton Mission, led by marine scientists from the University of Oxford, is surveying marine life and mapping the sea floor.