The POW pledge

Winter needs our help. The climate is changing because of what we are doing to the planet.

You know that. Your dog knows that. Your cat knows that, and is deeply concerned but still acts in that nonchalant way, as if it doesn't care.  But moggy does.

Our friends at Protect Our Winters — an environmental charity driving action on climate change in the outdoor sports community and industry — have created the POW Pledge, something that organisations and companies can sign up to, in order to take more steps to protect the environment.

As POW states, 'We need to face the facts that climate breakdown is real, it has started and we need to act now. The business sector accounts for around 70% of carbon emissions globally and, alone, the outdoors sector is worth $800 billion (bigger than the world's top three fossil fuel companies combined). Protect Our Winters UK is an NGO which inspires and equips the outdoor community and industry to take positive action on climate change to accelerate the transition to a carbon neutral society. Their new initiative, the POW Pledge is a digital portal and toolkit, developed with Surfdome and Internet Fusion, to equip the industry and organisations to take climate action towards Net Zero through eight easy steps. It takes a matter of minutes to make the Pledge, but organisations must show ambitious targets. As an industry that literally needs the earth and as governments set Net Zero target dates, it is time for organisations to stand up for it and make the Pledge which they can do at protectourwinters.uk/make-the-pledge/.

“It’s very simple; our industry has to act on climate change in order to survive.” says ambassador of the NGO and presenter, Ed Leigh. “The POW Pledge is the map that can guide organisations through these changes and then in turn, because of the nature of our industry we can inspire others to join us in our goal to become a Net Zero society. The POW Pledge gives us control of our future."

Here's a film by POW and Ed Leigh with more about the pledge.

Businesses who make the Pledge are being asked to run on 100% renewable electricity, be heated by carbon zero sources, run a zero emission vehicle fleet, reduce unavoidable CO2 emissions, establish a Net Zero (zero carbon) target date, begin their divestment journey, and influence their supply chain to do the same. The POW Pledge will not only make businesses accountable for their actions, but asks them to share the message with customers and peers to impact the industry as a whole. There’s power in numbers. You have a voice, you have an impact, you can choose to use it positively today.

If you are a business or organisation that can sign up, please do.  Snowcarbon has just done so.  We've done especially it for all the worried cats in the world. Cats always look slightly worried anyway. Let's at least alleviate biodiversity loss and climate change from the list of their concerns.