Patagonia
About the Organisation
Patagonia, Inc. is an American retailer of outdoor recreation clothing, equipment, and food. It was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 and is based in Ventura, California. Patagonia operates stores in more than 10 countries globally, as well as factories in 16 countries.
The Founder
The RADAr Framework
Brain Juice Collective Original
Patagonia, Inc. is an American retailer of outdoor recreation clothing, equipment, and food. It was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 and is based in Ventura, California. Patagonia operates stores in more than 10 countries globally, as well as factories in 16 countries.
How They Implement:
Reflect
In 2022, popular outdoor clothing manufacturer, Patagonia made major news when its founder announced that he was giving away his company to fight climate crisis. Headline aside, how does a company like Patagonia implement Responsible Innovation principles into practice?
Anticipate
- Supply chain transparency: Disclosure of information about company-owned facilities and suppliers across the supply chain
- Read more: Disclosure of information about company-owned facilities and suppliers across the supply chain on their website for public visibility and accountability https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/
- Fair trade programmes: Use of Fair Trade factories to provide their workers with tangible benefits that benefit their lives.
- Read more: Through their partnership with Fair Trade USA, Patagonia offers more Fair Trade Certified™ sewn products than any of their competitors. Patagonia’s Fair Trade program has impacted more than 85,000 workers around the globe. Currently Patagonia is building towards a more permanent and sustainable solution. https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/fair-trade.html
- Patagonia Fair Trade Fleece: Behind the Scenes
- Fair Labor Association: Membership in the Fair Labor Association provides accountability for sustainable labour.
- Read more: Patagonia’s membership in the Fair Labor Association holds them (and competitor companies) accountable for responsible labour practices. https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/fair-labor-association.html
Patagoniais a Sustainability Leader
Diversify
- Safer systems for migrant workers
- Read more: Patagonia has spent more than a decade collaborating with suppliers to eliminate fees for migrant workers in its supply chain. https://www.patagonia.com/ our-footprint/migrant-workers.html#:~:text=Patagonia%20is% 20committed%20to% 20eradicating,suppliers%20to% 20eliminate%20those%20fees.
- Patagonia has also advocated for large-scale change to help solidify a safer, more equitable employment landscape for all migrant workers.
- Patagonia has also created it’s own migrant worker employment standards & implementation guidelines for it’s factories
- The company has engaged with a wide range of NGOs in countries like Taiwan, Thailand and the US to understand the migrant worker experience and recruitment landscape as well as gather worker feedback to influence their decisions and policies.
- Read more: Patagonia has spent more than a decade collaborating with suppliers to eliminate fees for migrant workers in its supply chain. https://www.patagonia.com/ our-footprint/migrant-workers.html#:~:text=Patagonia%20is% 20committed%20to% 20eradicating,suppliers%20to% 20eliminate%20those%20fees.
Adapt & respond
- Regenerative Organic Certified Programmes: Creating sustainable solutions for fiber farming. https://www.patagonia.com/regenerative-organic/
- Read more: Growing food and fiber with industrial techniques and chemicals is a major cause of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that agriculture, along with forestry and other land uses, generates roughly 23% of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Switch from fossil-fuel-intensive farming to organic and low-till practices that build healthy soil and draw carbon back into the ground, helps turn the agricultural system from problem to solution.
- So far 2,000+ farmers have benefitted from Patagonia’s Regenerative Organic Certified programmes for cotton and food.
- Read more: Growing food and fiber with industrial techniques and chemicals is a major cause of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that agriculture, along with forestry and other land uses, generates roughly 23% of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Switch from fossil-fuel-intensive farming to organic and low-till practices that build healthy soil and draw carbon back into the ground, helps turn the agricultural system from problem to solution.
Patagonia Action Works
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