The transportation leader joins forces with Carbone 4 to affirm and give credibility to its desire to actively contribute to climate neutrality in Paris from 2020.
Paris, February 20th, 2020 – Bird, the leading micromobility company, has today partnered with Carbone 4 to pledge it will become the first transportation company to actively contribute to climate neutrality in Paris from 2020, with plans to expand to the rest of France in 2021. While Bird already prevents thousands of tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere by replacing car trips, it’s now working with Carbone 4 to implement and execute a comprehensive approach to carbon neutrality, promoting accountability and transparency in the industry.
Bird’s approach to carbon neutrality will follow the guidelines in the Net Zero Initiative, an effort from Carbone 4 to ensure corporate carbon neutrality is in line with scientifically supported targets.
This effort is part of Bird’s ongoing commitment to help cities decarbonize and reduce harmful emissions. Bird has already launched a fleet of cargo bikes and electric vans to collect its vehicles for charging and maintenance and has a number of upcoming initiatives that will help it achieve this industry first goal.
Travis VanderZanden, Founder and CEO of Bird, said: “Our mission is to make cities more liveable by helping to reduce car trips. We are inspired by Paris’ ambitious decarbonization goals, and are committed to doing our part to help the city become a global model of sustainability. Words are not enough, we all must take bold action to reduce carbon emissions, and the collaboration with Carbone 4 will help Bird accelerate and validate our progress while ensuring transparency of our efforts.”
Renaud Bettin, Manager of the Neutrality Practice of Carbone 4, said:
“Electric micromobility is remarkably efficient, and, as our previous research showed, could make up a fifth of all trips in Paris by 2030 if appropriate measures are put in place to develop the potential of these innovative mobility solutions. However, companies must be intentional to ensure shared micromobility has a positive climate impact. More precisely, the urgency of the climate crisis implores all operators to take action to reduce lifecycle emissions. This is why we are pleased to work with Bird to make an active contribution to carbon neutrality in a way that is rigorous and transparent and in accordance with the goals of the City of Paris.”
Last year Carbone 4 and Bird published a White Paper on the role that shared light electric vehicles such as e-scooters can play in decarbonizing cities, with a case study on the city of Paris. The White Paper presents a framework for the roles and responsibilities of operators and cities in bringing about a low-carbon urban transport future.
To go beyond, this new partnership will see Carbone 4 support Bird to make an active contribution to climate neutrality by implementing the Net Zero Initiative framework: identifying strategies to minimize emissions across its operations and supply chain in a full lifecycle perspective (e.g., designing and operating vehicles to last up to 36 months), contributing to carbon emissions reductions (e.g., developing low-carbon services, purchasing verified carbon offsets), and ultimately supporting the development of carbon sinks. Carbone 4 and Bird will release an annual progress report, and hope to set a new standard for the industry.
Bird has been operating in Paris for 18 months and has become a way of life for many people in the city as it provides residents and visitors the safest and most sustainable and efficient shared lightweight electric vehicles in the industry. In Paris for example tens of thousands of people use Bird as part of their daily commute helping them get from their homes to the nearest public transport hub.
Driss Ibenmansour, Head of Bird France, said:
“This is a really exciting time to be at Bird. Our mission is all about making cities cleaner and more livable for everyone. By partnering with Carbone 4 I’m thrilled that Bird is not only committing to becoming carbon neutral – but we will also be held accountable for doing so by one of France’s leading authorities.”
