REI hits 14-year carbon neutrality goal, launches new climate platform
As REI announces it has met its 14-year commitment to be carbon neutral in operations by this year 2020, the outdoor and sporting goods retailer has launched a new commitment to halving its carbon footprint over the next decade.
"The climate crisis is the greatest threat to the future of life outdoors and to REI's business. The science is clear about what we, as a society, need to do to change that future. The world must halve its greenhouse gasses emissions by 2030, so that's where REI – and the broader outdoor community – must lead," said REI Co-op President and CEO Eric Artz. "Going forward, we're embedding the impact of doing business, and the cost, into our business model."
Beginning with 2020's emissions, the co-op is formally joining Climate Neutral. It will, according to the company, hold itself financially accountable for each unit of carbon it emits in its own operations – which is expected to be a quarter million tons of carbon in 2020.
REI has also committed to planting 1 million trees by 2030 as part of the global 1 Trillion Trees initiative, and it has published a advocacy platform outlining climate policy priorities for 2021 and after.
The company said it will need to continue to shrink its footprint, which includes not only its own brands and operations, but also the emissions embedded in products from more than 1,000 brands it sells. REI said it will work with its brands, most of which are small businesses, on shared solutions.
This will also include the continued pursuit of “recycled and lower-impact materials in its manufacturing, efficiencies in its supply chain, the elimination of excess packaging for itself and its brand partners and opportunities to invest in renewable energy projects”. The brand will have to “reexamine every aspect of its business and will invest in natural climate solutions to offset the carbon it's not yet able to draw down”.
Image: REI.
