International Ski Federation saves face by signing climate initiative
If you recall, Protect Our Winters called the organization's president a climate-denying dinosaur.
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Less than a year after the International Ski Federation (FIS) president denied human-caused climate change, the organization last week signed onto a U.N. climate change initiative.
It means Protect Our Winters’ campaign worked.
In February, Gian Franco Kasper in an interview with a Swiss newspaper said, “dictators can organize [big] events … without asking the people’s permission.” He added that “from the business side, I say: I just want to go to dictatorships, I do not want to argue with environmentalists.” He also referred to “so-called” climate change.
Soon after, Protect Our Winters (POW) called him a climate-denying dinosaur and called for his resignation. That campaign yielded more than 9,000 letters sent to FIS from the outdoor community calling for the same, according to POW.
POW wrote that “the leadership of the organization is unwilling to acknowledge scientific evidence that threatens the entire snow industry, let alone act on it.”
The FIS last Wednesday joined the U.N. Sports for Climate Action Framework, making it part of its sustainability policy. That same day, the U.N. climate panel released a report with findings about significant shrinking of Arctic sea ice.
The FIS joins 80 sports organizations, including Chicks Climbing & Skiing and International Rafting Federation.
