The Patagonia Model for Accountable Climate Action
Patagonia, a global retailer of outdoor clothing, has always been a champion of climate action. Now, corporate responsibility to combat climate change has been highlighted after the founder of Patagonia, a company which is valued at about $3 billion, has transferred ownership to the Holdfast Collective, a non-profit organization that advocates for causes and political candidates to make grants and investments that fight climate change. This is a radical step toward progress, which makes us wonder if there is a possibility to switch into a climate-positive, anti-capitalistic society. “Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” says Founder Yvon Chouinard to the New York Times. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.”
Environmental activism is not new for Patagonia. The company has always been dedicated to creating a positive impact on our home planet. For decades, they have donated 1% of their sales to grassroots activists every year, are a part of a coalition of certified B Corp businesses, and have been a California Benefit Corporation, which means that they are legally required to state that one of their purposes is to promote general public benefit. To break it down further, B Corp businesses are held accountable. These companies need to demonstrate high social and environmental performance by making a legal commitment to changing their corporate governance structure to benefit all parties of interest. They also need to exhibit transparency by allowing their performance to be publicly available on their B Corp profile. You can view Patagonia’s profile here.
Yvon Chouinard felt that the company’s contributions were not enough, which is what led to this historic moment for environmental advocacy. We hope that other corporations follow the lead into a green vortex. We have seen decades of greenwashing take over the market, which highlights the hard balance between individual action and corporate responsibility. Hopefully, Patagonia can serve as an example going forward. If we can move away from the vague language in advertising and symbolic corporate gestures for environmental advocacy, it is possible to leave a greener impact on Earth.
