Washington, DC – Nike and Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy group based in Washington, have launched the Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge, inviting businesses and industry to join them in the commitment to not ship through the Arctic Ocean routes.
The Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge invites companies to commit to not intentionally send ships through this fragile Arctic ecosystem. Today’s signatories include companies Bestseller, Columbia, Gap Inc., H&M Group, Kering, Li & Fung, PVH Corp., and ocean carriers CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Company.
Through this pledge, Nike and Ocean Conservancy say they hope to inspire others in using their collective voices to help prevent a problem before it starts.
“At Nike, we exist to serve athletes. That means taking climate action through Move to Zero, Nike’s journey towards a zero carbon, zero waste future,” said Hilary Krane, EVP, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Nike, Inc. “We know climate change impacts how our athletes train and play, and whether they get to enjoy sport at all. Through this pledge, we’ve made a clear choice – to help protect the planet and preserve the Arctic.”
“The dangers of trans-Arctic shipping routes outweigh all perceived benefits and we cannot ignore the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping on our ocean,” said Janis Searles Jones, CEO of Ocean Conservancy.
“Ocean Conservancy applauds Nike for recognizing the real bottom line here is a shared responsibility for the health of the Arctic-and believes the announcement will spur much-needed action to prevent risky Arctic shipping and hopes additional commitments to reduce emissions from global shipping will emerge.”
