Cycling Industry Climate Commitment from Shift Cycling Culture

Shift Cycling Culture launches industry-wide Climate Commitment

A letter from CEOs to the wider cycling industry, addressing its responsibility in meeting UN climate change targets

Shift Cycling Culture launches the Climate Commitment in collaboration with a dedicated group of CEOs, leading some of the largest multinationals in the cycling industry. This Letter from CEOs to the industry is an urgent appeal to acknowledge the industry’s responsibility in reaching the UN Paris Agreement targets on Climate Change, and to do so collectively. All companies operating in the cycling industry are invited to join this initiative.

Why this initiative

Brought together by Shift Cycling Culture, a global climate movement with the mission to drive systemic change in the cycling industry and wider community, several CEOs from across the cycling industry came together to invite colleagues to recognise their role as business leaders in addressing climate change.

While cycling plays an important part in decarbonising our world, enabling people to ride their bikes, enjoy the outdoors and make cities more liveable by taking cars off the streets, the way the cycling industry makes and sells products is also contributing to the problem. It is time to change that.

Founding signatories of the letter are the CEOs of Assos of Switzerland, BMC Switzerland, Brompton, CyclingTips, Dorel Sports Group, Internetstores Holding, Haro Bikes USA//Kenda Tires, Pon Holdings, Rapha, Riese & Müller, ROSE Bikes, Schwalbe, Selle Royal Group, Specialized Bicycle Components and Vittoria.

How the collective cycling industry can play a part

In 2015, 195 countries signed the UN Paris Agreement, in which they committed to keep global warming below the critical level of 1.5 degrees Celsius. This means we must reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 55% by 2030, and 100% no 100% no later than 2050. later than 2050.

To meet the UN Paris Agreement targets in the cycling industry, the entire supply chain needs to be involved. The biggest part of the environmental impact of cycling products arises from production; 50-80% of the carbon emissions take place in extracting, sourcing, and producing materials and parts. The emissions related to production, use and disposal of bicycles and apparel can only be reduced if companies join forces in a collective effort.

With the letter, the founding signatories invite all colleagues in the cycling industry to get behind, sign and actively work on the contents of this letter here.

Signatories of the Climate Commitment pledge to:

1 // Report: We will disclose our own company’s carbon impacts by measuring our Scope 1 & 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, in accordance with the GHG Protocol, by 2023 (latest) and will continue to do so on an annual basis
2 // Reduce: We will disclose our plans to reduce our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (against a baseline of no earlier than 2015)

It is duly recognised that these commitments are mere first steps in a long journey. The letter also explicitly underlines that none of the founding signatories claims to be perfect, and the challenge, both on business level as for the wider industry, is enormous. But the mutual acknowledgement is that, without committing to first steps and working together as an industry, transformative change will not happen.