Global Winter Sports Industry Unites Around A Unique Climate Pact

The Winter Sports Sustainability Network (WSN), managed by Peak 63 and the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), in collaboration with Snowsports Industries America (SIA) are proud to announce the establishment of a transformative Climate Pact, bringing together prominent ski, snowboard, binding, and boot brands from Europe and the United States in a unified commitment to accelerate climate action within the winter sports industry. 

The winter sports industry is highly affected by climate change, but also acknowledges its role in the global environmental challenges through the products, value chains, activities and travels it generates. In fact, we, our customers, and the athletes we sponsor, all emit greenhouse gas. 

"Given the global nature of the winter sports industry, it's imperative that we tackle climate change on a global scale. SIA and WSN co-developed the Climate Pact in an effort to engage the global winter sports community around a set of meaningful commitments. Having the most influential hard goods brands join the Climate Pact not only aligns us on a defined path forward, but also shows the world that we're tackling climate at the speed and scale that it demands." Nick Sargent, President, Snowsports Industries America 

To learn more, please sign up for the upcoming online press conference hosted by Peak 63 in collaboration with FESI, Protect Our Winters [POW] and SIA. The press conference will go live on Monday, February 12th at 8:00 a.m. MT and those interested can sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/2zh7e8re.

By signing the Climate Pact, the industry publicly formalizes its commitment to addressing climate change and achieving a net-zero carbon emissions future. For this purpose, we will work along the following five principles: 

• Focusing our efforts on the required greenhouse gas emission reductions, to keep global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement. 

• Progressing our climate commitment by joining the UN Race to Zero Campaign before end of 2024, with validated climate targets through internationally verified climate initiatives. 

• Guiding the industry forward in collaborative action, where the more ‘climate advanced’ companies support and guide their less advanced peers. 

• Leveraging our influence to drive systemic change by advocating for progressive state, national and international climate policy. 

• Recognizing how our industry contributes to the climate crisis, and publicly addressing climate change as a top management priority for our business. 

The Climate Pact unites the winter sports industry to address the climate crisis head-on and take decisive action to meet the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. Through this collective initiative, we acknowledge the industry's vulnerability to global warming, using our brand recognition and industry organizations to propel systemic change. 

The industry climate pact is signed by the following member brands: Atomic, Black Crows, Blizzard, Burton, Capita, Dalbello, Decathlon, Elan, Fischer, Jones Snowboards, K2, Kästle, Marker, OneWay, Rossignol, Salomon, Tecnica, The Nidecker Group and Völkl. 

Quotes from signatories and the involved industry organizations:

• “While our industry cannot tackle the global climate challenge on its own it still has a part to play, the hardgoods industry decided not to sit on the sidelines and wait for others to act and watch the snow literally melt away. Therefore, we collectively decided to sit at the drawing boards and act. FESI is happy to be part of such a critical initiative.", - Jérôme Pero, Secretary General, FESI
• "As an industry in the face of change, let's be bold and brave to build a desirable future for skiing. One that is sustainable. To achieve this, our intention is to foster collaboration for a bigger impact, both within and beyond Decathlon. We are most excited about sharing a common mindset on sustainability with the Winter Sports Network, and laying down the foundation for the ski experience we've all been waiting for. What an opportunity to put heads together from a diversity of horizons, share methods, projects and most importantly: a vision!", - Isabelle Guyader, Head of Sustainability for Sports & Products, Decathlon
• “We all belong to a group of brands that promotes and celebrates outdoor activities in snow-covered mountains and for us at Elan, coming from the heart of Slovene Alps, it feels very natural to engage into activities that will support a better future, and to go on this journey together with like-minded colleagues from the industry. This project is all about the things that connect us and it is amazing to see how the Climate Pact initiative naturally came together.”, - Leon Korošec, Director of the Wintersports Division and Vice President, Elan Group
• "Protect Our Winters is proud to support the Climate Pact and welcomes the commitment of the Winter sports hardgoods industry to cut its impact and work towards a better future. As a sector acutely impacted by climate change it must act to safeguard its own future but also recognize changes it sees, in the mountains it relies on, are but the precursors of impacts already critically affecting communities far less fortunate than our own.", - Dan Yates, Director of Partnerships and Initiatives, Protect Our Winters Europe
• “Addressing climate change can't wait, the stakes are too high for both our planet and our industry. The WSN Climate Pact is an important step as it unites the industry and helps us leverage our collective power to advocate for progressive climate policies and find creative solutions to reduce the impact of our products and customers.”, - Xavier Nidecker, Director, Nidecker Group

The winter sports sustainability network is a platform for collaboration, learning and joint sustainability action within the winter sports industry. WSN is managed by Peak 63 under the governance of FESI and in partnership with Snowsports Industries America.