Famed Italian composed Ludovico Einaudi has given moving performance while floating in the Arctic ocean, in a message to global leaders about conserving the area at risk of environmental degradation. The grand piano Einaudi played was shipped from Germany by activist group Greenpeace.

Playing solo, Einaudi recited "Elegy for the Arctic", specially written for the event. The chilling concert took place off the coast of Svalbard, an archipelago that forms the northern-most part of Norway.

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The performance was part of a campaign by Greenpeace to urge governments attending the upcoming OSPAR meeting in Tenerife, Spain, to ratify an agreement to create the first Marine Protected Area that would safeguard 10% of the Arctic.

OSPAR is a cooperation between 15 governments and the EU "to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic". OSPAR gets it name from two preceding conferences - the Oslo conference and the Paris conference (Os - Par).

Speaking after the performance, Einaudi said: "Being here has been a great experience. I could see the purity and fragility of this area with my own eyes and interpret a song I wrote to be played upon the best stage in the world. It is important that we understand the importance of the Arctic, stop the process of destruction and protect it."

As well as his personal work, Einaudi is known for his soundtracks to films including: This is England, Black Swan and Untouchables.

Greenpeace said that the arctic is the least protected ocean in the world as well as describing is as a "leading player in one of today's greatest ecological disasters; the continuing loss of sea ice volume caused by rising temperatures". Melting sea ice and rising water levels could have effects felt all over the world, said the organisation, including "flooding, superstorms and droughts".