New Zealand born footwear label Allbirds has teamed up with Adidas to develop a sports performance shoe with the lowest ever carbon footprint.
The businesses will work together to accelerate solutions to reduce the 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the footwear industry annually.
The partnership will see each business share its knowledge of sustainable innovations and will aim to innovate on the manufacturing and supply chain processes in addition to exploring renewable material resources.
The collaboration will explore innovations across the entire supply chain – from material choices to manufacturing facilities and transportation methods that utilise renewable energy and fuels.
Currently, the carbon footprint of a typical pair of running shoes made of synthetic materials is between 11.3 and 16.7 kg CO22.
Allbirds co-CEO Tim Brown said that reducing the industry's impact on the climate is more important than trade secrets.
"There is an urgent need to reduce our global carbon number, and this mission is bigger than just Allbirds or Adidas.
"Whether we realise it or not this is a race that we are all running together as a planet and it is one that trumps the day-to-day competition of individual companies.
"I am hopeful that this partnership will be an example for others to follow as we pursue a more sustainable, net zero carbon future.
"Our great hope is that this partnership will catalyse other people to share both their best ideas and research so that we can work together in the fight to live more sustainably.
"This is a problem that won't be solved by one company alone," he said.
Adidas VP of brand strategy James Carnes added that the partnership sets a standard for sustainable collaborations of the future.
"Our brands don’t want to just participate in the sustainability conversation, we want to continue being catalysts and creators of substantial improvement.
"The recent progress that our brands have made in the name of sustainable innovation has created the perfect momentum for this partnership to influence industry practices forever.
"While we are prioritising the planet, we’re staying committed to improving the athlete's experience.
"That means the end result should yield no compromises for athletes or the planet," he said.