Icebug teams up with Protect Our Winters

Protect Our Winters is excited to announce it new global partner, Swedish outdoor shoe manufacturer Icebug.
At POW we strive to partner with brands that not only share our values but who lead from the front in terms sustainability and using business as a tool for good. In this Icebug is a true world leader. Whether it is switching from petrochemical to algae foam, changing its fabric dying processes, avoiding airfreight or installing solar electricity generation in it’s supply chain factories Icebug has led the way in slashing it’s scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. This, combined with an ambitions offsetting program for those emissions it cannot yet cut, means Icebug became Carbon Negative in March 2019 and they continue to work on reducing their negative impact on a daily basis.
You can read more on Icebug’s sustainability here, but we sent Protect Our Winters Sweden’s headman Joel Lundberg to their headquarters in Gothenburg to talk to Icebug CEO David Ekelund and find out more.

POW Sweden
So, what we want to do (at POW), is turn this passion that people have for nature and for the outdoors into advocacy.
Icebug CEO David Ekelund
We also love skiing. How can we change the way we do these things to do them in a more sustainable way? So culture change is important but how to scale, large change, systemic change, which regulations are needed for. A third reason would like this thing that, you advocating for real climate action doesn’t only come from the usual suspects, but also from something like outdoor athletes and outdoor brands.

POW Sweden
When did you know it was really time to act?
Icebug CEO David Ekelund
So I went to Thomas the other part owner of Iceberg and said to him. Okay, let’s do something bold here. Lets, make a pledge that we will be climate positive by 2020 and make it happen.

POW Sweden
It’s really expensive today to do. What’s right, and it’s much cheaper and almost always easier to do the stuff that hurts the planet. So how do we turn the tables completely?
Icebug CEO David Ekelund
The business case is like going for solar rooftop energy in the factories. You get your money back in 6 to 7 years and you will then have electricity for free for 13 years. It’s an easy investment case but if you really want to accelerate this change . It would be a great thing to put the proper price on carbon.

Since this conversation David has continued to advocate for realistic carbon pricing of $100/ton. To practice what they preach Icebug now internally pricing carbon at this level and direct the funds to sustainability and environmental improvements.

To sum up, what did David feel about the stark news from the latest IPCC?
What I find to be really ,really hopeful from the IPCC report is the message that it’s not too late. Yeah, we are really in Code Red Alert. This climate emergency is man-made, but we can also solve it and there is still some time and that the technical and financial solutions. They are at hand.