Bike Industry Alliance for More Sustainable Asian Production

Rotterdam, the Netherlands

A new training initiative to achieve more sustainable manufacturing processes in Asia has been launched by a collaboration of major bicycle brands and European organisations for sustainability.

The Climate Action Training (CAT) program was announced this month by Shift Cycling Culture, a Netherlands-based not-for-profit working to accelerate collective climate action in the global cycling industry and community.

Shift is coordinating CAT in collaboration with brands that include Ancell, Trek, Scott, Canyon, tyre manufacturer Schwalbe and urban bicycle manufacturer Schindelhauer, to drive down greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains.

“Up to 95% of a company’s carbon emissions take place when extracting, sourcing and producing bike materials and components.”

“The online training is aimed at suppliers of hard goods based in Asia and will be offered in several relevant Asian languages,” Shift says.

“The free course is targetted at top management and technical mid-management at factories to raise awareness on their critical role in achieving a net zero cycling world.

“The training will provide foundational knowledge on measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, how to set reduction targets and monitor progress, as well as relevant case studies of potential solutions to drive down emissions.

“The biggest part of the environmental impact of companies in the cycling industry comes from their supply chains. Up to 95% of a company’s carbon emissions take place when extracting, sourcing and producing bike materials and components.

“To tackle these emissions and support their business partners, companies have come together to co-develop a Climate Action Training.”

The open source Climate Action Training is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of 2024, “when all companies in the cycling sector will be invited to use this course to engage and collaborate with their suppliers and to catalyse climate action across the industry”.

Shift is co-facilitating CAT with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – a public-benefit federal enterprise that supports the German Government to achieving its objectives for international cooperation.

Two training agencies, Leadership & Sustainability and Fischer, Knoblauch & Co., will provide the digital learning expertise.

Canyon CEO Nicolas de Ros Wallace said the German bicycle manufacturer highly appreciated the opportunity to work openly with other organisations to drive change in the industry.

“We know how utterly important it is to combine shared efforts in tackling climate change, to achieve the biggest impact not only as a company but within the whole industry,” Nicolas said,

Shift Cycling Culture CEO Sandra Brandt said companies have to work together to find effective ways to speed up efforts in tackling climate change and scale climate action where it matters most.

“The training for suppliers will not only be a great tool for the cycling industry to take important and impactful next steps in their climate journey, I am also convinced that this initiative is just the start to more collective action we will see across the industry,” she added.

The initiative builds on the success of a similar program, Climate Action Training for the Fashion Industry, that was co-developed by GIZ and the Fashion Charter for Climate Action in 2021. More than 10,000 participants have taken part in the fashion industry training, which is available in seven languages.