February 12, 2020 Join the Climate Action Corps

Have you heard? OIA has announced a major new initiative aimed to get outdoor companies on track with science-based emissions targets of net zero by 2050. Here’s what you need to know.

The rationale for urgent climate action hardly needs to be spelled out at this point, but here goes: we must align global emissions with a net-zero 2050 trajectory or suffer dire, irreversible consequences. Beyond existential issues of human survival in the near future, climate change is also a business issue. Today. Customer’s are already choosing companies that are taking climate action, and employees are doing the same. In what’s become an industry cliché: “climate change represents an existential threat to the outdoor experience, upon which the industry depends.”

The case may be crystal clear, but the same can’t be said of its implications. While many strive do their part, sufficient climate impact mitigation is simply a mountain too tall to take on alone – a trail map, some beta and a squad of energetic and competent buddies can make all the difference on what essentially amounts to a first ascent.

Enter the Climate Action Corps.

What you need to know about the Climate Action Corps

Companies who join the Climate Action Corps pledge to first measure their entire carbon footprint (scopes 1, 2 and 3), plan ambitious reduction targets, initiate immediate and ongoing reductions and then consent for this information to be made public in an annual OIA report to ensure full transparency.

Throughout this process, the OIA aims to support participating companies with a Climate Action Trail Map and Guide Book – which includes measurement guidance, target-setting tips and reduction strategies – by hosting online workshops led by experts, holding in-person, bi-annual community learning opportunities in conjunction with Outdoor Retailer, and facilitating specific reduction Impact CoLab projects.

This initiative is in part participant-financed, and annual dues vary by company type and size.

In terms of goals, the OIA aspires to have at least half of all OIA members (by revenue) signed on by the end of 2020, that all participants will have measured their emissions and set targets by the end of 2021 and that they then align their emissions reductions with the Paris Agreement targets – and ultimately exceed them – to become climate positive.

Read more about the Climate Action Corps at:

outdoorindustry.org/climateaction