Section: Resource

Resilience in a Tough Year: A First Look at Our 2025 Sustainability Progress Report

If 2025 taught the outdoor industry anything, it’s that sustainability remains critical to our industry, even though it does not get easier when the pressure mounts. Our new 2025 Sustainability Progress Report tells that story in full.

A Storm-Tested Year

2025 was hard for many outdoor businesses. Souring national sentiment on climate, heightened scrutiny of sustainability claims, and unprecedented tariffs all squeezed the industry at once. Companies faced painful choices, and sustainability teams often absorbed the impact. Meanwhile, the planet kept sending reminders of why this work matters—2025 ranked as the fourth-warmest year on record for the U.S.

And yet, the headline from this year isn’t retreat. It’s resilience.

Engagement Is Up—Even as Progress Dipped

Participation in the Climate Action Corps (CAC) and Clean Chemistry & Materials Coalition (CCMC) jumped 36% from 2024 to 2025, with 114 outdoor companies taking part. Even as budgets shrank and headcounts fell, more companies chose to lean in, not step back.

The report doesn’t hide where the industry came up short. Across CAC, key climate indicators—emissions measurement, target-setting, and reduction progress—declined year over year. In CCMC, members broadened supplier conversations about chemicals management, but formal RSL communication slipped, especially deeper in the supply chain. We share the full breakdown, along with our honest read on what’s driving these shifts.

The Bright Spots

Behind the aggregate numbers are members doing remarkable work despite the headwinds. A few previews:

Burton achieved a 41% absolute reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions and a 39% cut in Scope 3, both from a 2020 baseline.
LifeStraw built a detailed roadmap toward its 2030 SBTi commitments—reducing Scope 3 emissions relative to operating costs by 62% since 2019.
KEEN joined a first-of-its-kind pilot developing low-carbon pathways for industrial chemicals critical to footwear.
Patagonia and Norrøna raised the bar on supply-chain chemical management, from rigorous supplier standards to stricter materials certifications.

These stories prove the harder, later-stage work is achievable..

Where We Go From Here

The report closes with our commitments to members for the year ahead: more education and tools for GHG measurement and target-setting, deeper support for engaging suppliers beyond Tier 1, continued collective impact reduction opportunities, and advocacy on the industry’s behalf at the state and federal levels. Our goal is simple—to provide tools and education that make compliance and impact easier.

Read the Full Report

Our 2025 story is one of an industry weathering a storm on solid foundations. Emissions measurement remains strong, supplier engagement is broadening, and our members’ commitment hasn’t wavered. The frontier now is turning goals into funded action and extending progress deep into the supply chain.

The full report dives into the complete data, member spotlights, and our roadmap for supporting you in 2026 and beyond.

Read the 2025 CAC & CCMC Progress Report

Interested in joining the Climate Action Corps or Clean Chemistry & Materials Coalition? Learn more about our sustainability programs.

CCS Guidance for Tier 1 Vendors

A Practical Roadmap to Textile Exchange Certification

Certification is becoming a baseline expectation as global regulation tightens and brands face growing pressure to substantiate the sustainability claims they make about their products. Tier 1 factories sit at a critical point in that chain. When finished-product manufacturers achieve certification, they unlock real value for themselves and their brand partners, from full chain of custody to favorable product placement with retailers marketing sustainability attributes.

Yet the path to certification is often unclear, with unfamiliar documentation requirements, material handling procedures, and audit processes that can make getting started feel daunting. To address this, a coalition of OIA members, including Columbia Sportswear Company, The North Face, Patagonia, KEEN, Burton, L.L. Bean, Stanley, and FENIX Outdoor, formed a task force to help increase certification rates among Tier 1 factories.

The result is OIA’s Content Claim Standard Guidance for Tier 1 Vendors. Built from interviews with certified and non-certified suppliers, certification bodies, and Textile Exchange, the guide clarifies the full certification process for the OCS, GRS, RCS, RDS, RWS, RMS, RAS, and CCS standards. It covers:

Determining your certification scope, including standards, facilities, and processes
Finding a certification body and building management systems
Preparing for and completing your audit
Applying for and issuing scope and transaction certificates
Product-specific considerations for complex outdoor gear, footwear, and hard goods
Certification costs, claims eligibility, and additional resources

Whether you are exploring certification for the first time or refining an existing program, the guide is designed to make certification more attainable. It is available in English, Vietnamese, and Bengali.

Q1 2026 Outdoor Retail Trends Report

What the Latest Numbers Reveal About a Cooling Market

Outdoor product sales in Athletic Specialty and Sporting Goods (ASSG) retail channels opened 2026 in a precarious position—and the signals are worth a close look. Dollar sales held nearly flat, declining less than 1%, but unit sales fell sharply, down 7.3% across every product category. At the same time, average retail prices climbed 6.7% year-over-year, outpacing the broader inflation rate of roughly 3.3%. With consumer sentiment at decade lows and middle- and lower-income households cutting back on discretionary spending, understanding which products are still moving and which are cooling fast has never been more important.
OIA’s Q1 2026 Outdoor Retail Trends Report is now available. It covers category-level dollar and unit sales performance across ASSG retail, standout performers in equipment, accessories, and footwear, and the categories seeing the sharpest declines—from women’s basketball-inspired shoes to portable fire pits and insulated tumblers. Check out the Executive Summary for the key findings and market implications.

Get the Executive Summary

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Access the report: Click Here

ESPR Policy Brief

What the EU’s Ecodesign Regulation Means for Outdoor Brands

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is a landmark EU framework that will reshape how textiles and apparel are designed, sold, and tracked—and the implications for the outdoor industry are significant. The regulation applies to any company placing covered products on the EU market, regardless of where it is based. Some compliance deadlines are already in effect, and others are approaching fast, which makes understanding what is required, and when, essential for any brand or retailer selling in Europe.

OIA’s sustainability team has prepared a new policy brief that gives outdoor companies a practical overview of what ESPR requires and how to prepare. It breaks down reporting obligations, ecodesign requirements for textiles, Digital Product Passport rules, and the steps your team can take now ahead of the Textile Delegated Act expected in late 2027. Whether your products are directly in scope or you sit further down the supply chain, understanding these changes is a must.

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Access the policy brief: Click Here

2025 OIA Sustainability’s Impact Report

A Year of Collective Progress for the Outdoor Industry

2025 was a defining year for the outdoor industry—tested by unprecedented tariffs, economic pressure, and mounting compliance obligations, yet strengthened by collaboration. OIA Sustainability’s first-ever Impact Report captures the year in full, with more than 500 individuals from 118 companies driving collective progress across climate, chemistry, and compliance—from Climate Action Corps milestones and a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement supporting 18.5 megawatts of renewable energy to new Clean Chemistry guidebooks, expanded policy resources, and the launch of OIA Learning. Whether you’re shaping strategy, tracking progress, or building industry partnerships, this report shows what’s possible when the industry chooses collaboration over retreat.

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Explore the 2025 OIA Sustainability Program

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2026 Hiking Report

The Hiking Boom Isn’t Slowing Down

Hiking is now the most popular outdoor recreation activity in America, and for once the headline and the underlying story point the same direction. A record 63.4 million Americans went hiking in 2024, 20.5% of the population ages 6 and older, capping a climb that has nearly doubled the hiking community since 2012 and added more than 13 million new participants since 2019. But the more telling number sits beneath the surface: even as the base expands, hikers are getting out more often, not less. 16.7 million are now “core” hikers who hit the trail 13 or more times a year, and that segment is growing faster than participation overall — a 7.6% five-year average annual growth rate for core hikers versus 5.2% for hiking as a whole. In a category where rising participation usually comes with falling frequency, hiking is doing something rare: growing on both fronts at once.

OIA’s 2026 Hiking Report is now available. The report breaks down hiking participation by demographic, region, income, age, and education, examines hiking’s role as the primary gateway into the broader outdoor industry — over 90% of hikers also take part in other activities — and highlights where the biggest opportunities lie, from middle-aged adults to the untapped growth among communities of color still facing access and safety barriers on the trail. Check out the report for the key findings and what they mean for the industry.

Download the Summary>

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Access the report: Click Here

EU CSRD and CSDDD Webinar

What the EU’s New Sustainability Directives Mean for You

The EU’s Omnibus Simplification Package has finalized the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)—and the implications for the outdoor industry are significant. OIA’s sustainability team was joined by Francesca Fina of Ohana Public Affairs for a webinar that breaks down the finalized requirements, which companies now fall within scope, and how these directives could ripple through outdoor brands even if they sit outside the thresholds. Whether your business is directly in scope or not, understanding these landmark changes is a must.

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Guide to Comply

Stay Ahead of Sustainability Compliance

Keeping up with sustainability laws across the U.S. and Canada is becoming increasingly complex—and the cost of falling behind is rising. OIA’s updated 2026 Guide to Comply cuts through the noise with a 20+ page resource covering the specific regulations impacting the outdoor industry right now, from climate accountability and PFAS rules to Extended Producer Responsibility and green claims best practices. Whether you’re navigating new state-level emission mandates or refining your sustainability messaging, this guide gives your team the clarity needed to stay compliant.

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Access the guide: Click Here