Outdoor Industry Climate Action Corps Releases 2022 Impact Report

Swift and strategic action puts outdoor collective on track to become the first climate positive industry by 2030

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Outdoor Industry Association's (OIA) Climate Action Corps proudly released the latest data from its 2022 Impact Report, summarizing the group's objectives, methodology, results, and findings, as well as an assessment of its overall impact to date.

A member-led collective of outdoor brands, specialty retailers, and suppliers both big and small, OIA's Climate Action Corps consists of over 100 businesses that have united around the daring goal and commitment to become the first climate positive industry by 2030. The Corps' 2022 Impact Report reveals in detail how the sustainability consortium continues to make significant and crucial progress on measuring, setting targets, reducing emissions, and advocating for bold policy action in Congress.

Created in 2020 and currently three years into its progress, some of the most notable highlights from the Climate Action Corps' 2022 Impact Report include:

• 99% of Corps members have measured their operational greenhouse gas emissions (measured, estimated, or in progress for scope 1 & 2 emissions) – up from 96% from last year and 84% in 2020.
• 91% are measuring their value chain emissions (measured, estimated, or in progress for scope 3 emissions) – up from 83% last year and 69% in 2020.
• 87% have set Scope 1 and 2 targets and 76% have set targets for Scope 3 (set or in progress).
• 13 Corps members are engaged in 4 Impact CoLabs – in addition to 7 members who have already completed 2 CoLabs – to help accelerate emissions reductions.
• 76% have engaged in advocacy actions, such as endorsing a climate solutions campaign or sign-on letter, participating in a government meeting, or corresponding directly with U.S. Congress or administration officials – up from 59% last year.

"We applaud the bold leadership of our Climate Action Corps members and their commitment to collective action and sustainable growth. This work is not easy. It takes perseverance, courage, and a tremendous amount of time and energy. But together, our combined efforts can drive innovation, mobilize millions of consumers, drive meaningful policy change, and be a model for other sectors to follow. Our industry's long history of collaboration has shown time and again that we can unite to confront even the most complex issues," said OIA President, Kent Ebersole.

Many of OIA's Climate Action Corps members share this common vision.

"REI's mission is to connect every person to the power of the outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it. The OIA Climate Action Corps has been a key partner in helping us build coalitions to solve some of our biggest environmental challenges. Their platforms allow brands to advocate for collective environmental shifts in the outdoor industry, they educate members on regulations and policies, and they offer support to ensure every brand is moving forward with their climate goals," added Danielle Fraser, Merchandising Sustainability Manager at REI. 

"Climate Action Corps has created a unique community of support for its membership. Learning from other brands and how they approach and structure their sustainability initiatives has been valuable and reassuring we are all on this journey together. In 2020 Vasque joined as a founding member of the Climate Action Corps. Since then, we have grown our sustainability efforts to include all our brands as Red Wing Shoe Company under a formal Corporate Social Responsibility department," said Kristen Bandurski, Sustainability Program Manager at Vasque.

"L.L.Bean has always had the environment as one of our key stakeholders," said Brian O'Connor, Director of Sustainability & Global Compliance at L.L.Bean. "OIA's Climate Action Corps has been instrumental in helping us turn our corporate intentions into impact in two ways: 1) the resources and collaboration available to members helped us build the internal knowledge and expertise to drive results, and 2) having the entire outdoor industry behind this effort was empowering and gave us the confidence that these aggressive goals could be achieved by working together across our global supply chain."

"We are so proud to see our industry rally around the climate crisis and take bold, science-based action to combat it. Climate change has no barriers – it impacts each one of us, and the planet upon which we all recreate. While each individual action to address this crisis has an impact, together as an industry and as a collective of Climate Action Corps members, we have greater potential to catalyze sustainable growth and affect systemic change," added Ebersole. "The time is now to take bold action!"

Climate Action CorpsThe OIA Climate Action Corps was founded in January 2020 to bring together brands, retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and supporting organizations to harness the power of collaboration to address the threat of climate change to the outdoor industry. In partnership with PeopleforBikes, the Corps unites a diverse mix of outdoor businesses of all sizes, product types and in varying stages of climate action to accelerate progress toward reducing GHG emissions, harness the power of nature to remove more carbon than we emit, and advocate for robust climate policy.

About the Outdoor Industry Association
Based in Boulder, Colo., with offices in Washington, D.C., Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is a catalyst for meaningful change. A member-based collective, OIA is a passionate group of business leaders, climate experts, policy makers and outdoor enthusiasts committed to sustainable economic growth and climate positivity while protecting - and growing access to - the benefits of the outdoors for everyone. For more than 30 years, OIA has catalyzed a thriving outdoor industry by supporting the success of every member company across four critically aligned areas: market research, sustainability, government affairs, and inclusive participation. OIA delivers success for its members through education, events, and business services in the form of solutions and strategies, consultation, collaboration, and opportunities for collective action. For more information, visit outdoorindustry.org

SOURCE Outdoor Industry Association