Austin: Let’s start with a dose of positivity. I know that companies are still making progress with climate initiatives, even if it’s not always visible. What’s happening – at REI or beyond – that gives you hope?
Brent: REI’s mission has always been to connect every person to the power of the outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it. Right now, we – along with many of our brand partners – are doubling down on that mission and continuing the work to cut our emissions. In 2024, almost three quarters of our sales dollars came from brands with science-aligned emissions targets. It’s encouraging to see that in our community, climate commitments are alive and well.
On a more personal note, I recently attended a youth environmental leadership summit in Seattle, and I was inspired by how engaged and driven the high school-aged participants were. These students were immersed in talking about some of today’s most complex and challenging climate issues and their passion was palpable. It’s a powerful reminder that younger generations are highly engaged in taking climate action and working to build a better future.
Austin: That’s amazing, and super inspiring. I also agree that companies – and young people – are absolutely continuing to think about ways to decarbonize. Let’s talk more about your retail brand partners - the many companies whose products people can buy in an REI store or online. How does your retail influence impact your mission?
Brent: It definitely adds complexity, but our strategy is clear: Lead by example and collaborate with our brand partners to raise the floor and scale our impact. We expect our brand partners to engage wholeheartedly in vital work to protect the future of our planet.
That encompasses many different workstreams, such as our Product Impact Standards, which point to the way forward on sustainability for all of our partner brands. One of our foundational asks within these standards is for partners to measure their emissions, set reduction targets, and create action plans for reducing emissions. We also recognize the Climate Label as a leading certification in the climate space and encourage brands to consider pursuing it. This signals the importance of having clear targets backed by strong internal support for achieving them.
Austin: To accelerate climate results, getting the right tools into companies’ hands is critical. If you could wave a magic wand today and immediately help companies relieve barriers to decarbonization, what would that look like?
Brent: One of the biggest barriers we see is understanding the impact of your products, across complex supply chains where emissions are coming from different processes – manufacturing, logistics, etc. You simply can’t reduce what you can’t measure.
We recommend The BEE platform from The Change Climate Project as a user-friendly and affordable tool to help calculate and better understand emissions hotspots.
Austin: We tend to agree! With our transition from Climate Neutral Certified to The Climate Label, we’ve put far more emphasis on funding for climate solutions within the value chain. How did this shift affect the certification process for REI?
Brent: Overall, I really appreciated how comprehensive and intuitive the certification process was. There was an honest accounting of where we’ve made progress — and where there’s still more to do, from procurement to solar energy and everywhere in between. I liked that the process required specific documentation. It made our efforts feel real, especially when it came to the financial side of things — demonstrating how we’re funding the work. That fundamental part gets missed in a lot of other frameworks.
Putting everything in the same terms lets us take a comprehensive view of all the activities we’re considering. Then, we can boil them down to cost investment per ton of emissions reduced or avoided.
Ultimately, being able to understand the biggest bang for the buck opportunities was an incredibly valuable exercise, and we actually exceeded the certification’s minimum funding threshold. We’re very proud of this fact.
Austin: Yes, I was really excited when that data came in. Shifting gears a bit, REI’s co-op structure is unique. Does that dynamic – where customers are often also co-op members – influence how you engage with them on sustainability and climate?
Brent: Absolutely. Our members expect us to lead and we’re regularly asking them for input. We are refocusing right now on membership. That's our core product. We recently asked members to give direct feedback on the co-op in our new member survey. We're inviting them to directly shape our future.
It’s not just about having high-quality, durable gear — they want us to stand for something. I absolutely believe consumers are more informed and educated on what to look for than ever before. They’re more cognizant of the impacts associated with products, and how they can reduce their own impact. They want to shop in alignment with their values, and our goal is to make this easy for them.
I’ll add, too, that REI’s leadership team has continued to be very supportive of our climate work. We believe that addressing climate impact is a fundamental responsibility of anyone working in the outdoor industry and frankly, a responsibility for any company.
Austin: Now that you’ve been certified with The Climate Label, what’s next for you over the coming year?
Brent: So glad you asked! I’m really excited about all of the innovation I’m seeing in low carbon materials. We’re exploring ways to further scale recycled content – especially from textile-to-textile recycled polyester and nylon – given that much of our emissions come from products.
We’ll also continue to provide guidance and resources to our suppliers to help them accelerate decarbonization, as well as ongoing support for local and community-based projects.
Austin: I’m excited to see even more progress through our partnership. Any parting words of wisdom for our readers?
Brent: Yes! I know many brands are in various stages of the sustainability journey. Some are well advanced, some are just getting started. But what’s most important is to just start from where you are. You don't have to dive right into the most complex carbon accounting and build a massive team. Just get started somewhere.
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Austin Whitman is CEO and co-founder of The Change Climate Project. For more than two decades he has worked to create new markets and demand for climate solutions. He believes companies and individuals can make a huge difference for the climate if they're just shown how. Outside of work, he is a dad, a woodworker, and spends a lot of time in New England's great outdoors.
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