{"id":162754,"date":"2020-09-24T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=162754"},"modified":"2020-10-08T12:45:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T19:45:21","slug":"rei-goes-carbon-neutral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/rei-news\/rei-goes-carbon-neutral","title":{"rendered":"Eric Artz: The Fight at the Intersection of People and Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an organization, and as people, we have never faced a year quite like 2020. This has been one of the most difficult years in the co-op\u2019s history, but throughout it we\u2019ve seen people turn to the outdoors for solace and for recreation like never before. Despite the many challenges of 2020, I believe the co-op community will come through it all, stronger than ever.<\/p>\n

To do so, we must also address what is more clearly than ever the greatest existential threat to the future of life outdoors, and the co-op: the<\/strong> climate crisis<\/strong>. As a community of people who have built our lives around the outdoors, we see the very real impacts of climate change all around us\u2014most recently with the wildfires impacting much of the western United States and hurricanes battering the Gulf Coast. We also see how climate change disproportionately harms Black, Indigenous and other underrepresented communities.<\/p>\n

For 82 years, we\u2019ve been fighting for life outdoors, prioritizing environmental stewardship, in an attempt to be part of the solution. We\u2019ve actively worked to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions since 2006, when Sally Jewell declared that the co-op would be climate neutral in its operations by 2020. We were one of the first retailers to measure and report our greenhouse gas emissions, and over the years have prioritized projects like green building certifications, generated our own energy through solar arrays, launched industry-wide sustainability standards for all products sold, and invested more than $100 million into stewarding outdoor spaces that support recreation but also can provide critical carbon sequestration.<\/p>\n

But none of that has been enough.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve long challenged ourselves to be leaders in the sustainability space, and it\u2019s time once again to step up and lead. Going forward, we\u2019re embedding the environmental impact of doing business, and the cost, into our business model.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re committing to an ambitious new plan: to be carbon neutral in our operations<\/strong> starting in 2020 and more than halve<\/strong> our carbon footprint over the next decade.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re setting out to reduce both our own greenhouse gas emissions and the emissions embedded in the products of the more than 1,000 brands we sell, and transparently sharing progress as we go. No retailer has yet accomplished this, but we know what needs to get done, and most importantly, we believe we can do it.<\/p>\n

As we work toward this goal, we\u2019ll invest<\/strong> in carbon credits to responsibly offset what we can\u2019t yet draw down on our own. Beginning with 2020\u2019s emissions, we are formally joining Climate Neutral<\/a>. This is how we\u2019ll hold ourselves accountable. A promise to be carbon neutral means the co-op will effectively pay for each metric ton of carbon we emit from our own brands and operations. We will account for at least a quarter million tons of greenhouse gases emitted in our operations in 2020 alone.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Going forward, running a healthy business will require us to continue reducing our carbon footprint.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll continue to advocate for solutions that help us\u2014and the planet\u2014accelerate our progress. We\u2019ve committed to planting 1 million trees by 2030 as part of the global 1 Trillion Trees<\/a> initiative, which aims to conserve, restore and grow 1 trillion trees around the world over the next decade; and will advocate for policies that support cleaner transportation infrastructure, clean energy solutions and carbon sequestration projects.<\/p>\n

And we must do it all while recognizing the intersection of this effort with our racial equity work<\/a>, as our success or failure in each area will have the biggest impact on already marginalized communities.<\/p>\n

In many ways, the events of 2020 have given us clarity and focus on our path forward. We were forced to rethink every part of our business, and our existence\u2013and we move forward with a renewed focus on what we owe to future generations.<\/p>\n

Halving our carbon footprint is an audacious goal that will require all of us to buy in. Everyone has a role. And we\u2019ll be following up with ways all of us can get involved. As individuals and as a member-owned co-op, we can, and must, collectively make a difference in the long-term health of the planet.<\/p>\n

We must act now, for the generations that follow.<\/p>\n

Eric Artz<\/p>\n

REI Co-op President and CEO<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an organization, and as people, we have never faced a year quite like 2020. This has been one of the most difficult years in the co-op\u2019s history, but throughout it we\u2019ve seen people turn to the outdoors for solace and for recreation like never before. Despite the many challenges of 2020, I believe the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9145,"featured_media":162758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[685,1465],"tags":[795,727,682,1484],"internal-tag":[2013],"class_list":["post-162754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rei-news","tag-climate-change","tag-latest-posts","tag-rei-news","tag-staff-society","internal-tag-staff-home-secondary"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/rei-news\/rei-goes-carbon-neutral","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Eric Artz: The Fight at the Intersection of People and Planet","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/rei-news\/rei-goes-carbon-neutral","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/rei-news\/rei-goes-carbon-neutral"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/09\/Harnois_070419_0041.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/09\/Harnois_070419_0041.jpg?fit=2000%2C1333"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Phuong Le"}],"creator":["Phuong Le"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["climate change","latest posts","rei news","staff society"],"dateCreated":"2020-09-24T14:00:17Z","datePublished":"2020-09-24T14:00:17Z","dateModified":"2020-10-08T19:45:21Z"},"rendered":"