InstaFund Racing: a UCI Women’s Continental Team setting goals and an example

In the third of our series focusing on COP27 and the UN Sports for Climate Action we put the spotlight on the world’s first professional cycling team aiming to operate as a carbon-neutral entity.

Led by sustainability professional Isabella Bertold, InstaFund Racing has not only set its own climate action goals, but is driving progress and communication across the cycling industry. Founded in 2019 in Vancouver, BC (Canada), the team elevates women in sport by providing a platform where riders can reach their potential as individuals and team members. All team members are also chasing exciting goals outside of the traditional cycling world thanks to their common mindset when it comes to the environment.

As a signatory of the UN Sports for Climate Action, InstaFund Racing reports annually on its carbon footprint and performance against the framework’s five principles to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC). The team has found the Sports for Climate Action framework a supportive network for gaining insights through conversations and knowledge exchange with other sports organisations that are also driving change.

In 2022, the team launched its own podcast, Race for the Future: Sustainability and Cycling, to deep dive into how the sport of cycling can innovate sustainably with suppliers and other partners.Sustainability and climate change can feel incredibly overwhelming to many people, which is why a big part of the team’s mission is to raise awareness and help drive the little positive changes everyone can make, which make a big difference overall.

Taking Action

To reduce their carbon emissions and environmental impacts, the team started with the “lower hanging fruits” in areas they could instantly control:

  • removing single-use plastic from the team’s service course

  • optimising the team’s race schedule to minimise flights

  • working with suppliers to drive long-term product life cycle change

  • undertaking regular clean-up rides

  • supporting restoration initiatives by the Rivershed Society

In September 2022, Isabella Bertold, who is also a professional sailor with the Canadian SailGP team, cycled over 1,100 km between events in Saint-Tropez, France and Cadiz, Spain, to raise awareness for the plight of the ocean. During the Ride for the Future, Isabella took time out along the way to speak with local residents about the importance of reducing our reliance on plastics, as well as cleaning waterways and shorelines along the coastline.

Being a carbon-neutral team also means taking responsibility for unavoidable emissions. The team has adopted a unique approach to offsetting by working with local charities and environmental groups to do hands-on volunteer work that is quantified into offsets. The team’s goal wherever they race is to leave a positive impact and cleaner race sites than when they arrived thanks to trash pick-ups, school visits, and leading women’s bike skills clinics.

The climate challenge

Being carbon neutral and finding ways to run a cycling team without single-use plastic requires a lot of planning. The team has more actions in the pipeline, but certain external realities and barriers make the sustainability mission a challenging one.

The team’s road bikes are made of carbon fibre, a high-performing material with weight and strength properties that have resulted in the material being widely used in sport equipment, especially in elite competition. Working within the realities of high-performance sport means compromising performance by trying something different does not make sense for the team.

The use of electric vehicles for travelling to and with races is currently limited by EV battery range. This is a problematic as much of the team’s racing calendar and associated travel is outside of their control.

In calculating the team’s impacts, they also face the challenge of better auditing for every single product the team uses to accurately understand emissions and impacts throughout their supply chain.

Working Together

Ultimately sustainability and minimising our sport’s environmental impact is a collaborative journey. InstaFund Racing want to help bring other teams along the journey with them, believing that working together will lead to the best solution. Collectively trying to solve the same shared problems can support the realisation of better solutions in the sport.

Looking ahead

The team is working hard to build upon its current structure of fully supporting female riders in their development while also giving them the freedom to pursue disciplines outside road cycling and sharing the team’s sustainability message with a much wider audience.

In 2023, the team will have a heavy gravel focus, with all riders racing the full Pro Road Tour in North America (Road and Criterium Races) and other key gravel races. The riders will also have the support to race larger adventure races like the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race in South Africa, compete on the track, and pursue dual sports programmes at an Olympic/professional level.