The Earth
She's not an easy boss.

Three years ago, we decided that the Earth would be our sole shareholder. Since then, being accountable to it hasn't been easy. Our first work-in-progress report honestly details where we're falling short, where we're making progress, and all the challenges that still lie ahead.

“Despite all the work we do and all the money we donate, it’s still not enough.”

Yvon Chouinard

Read our founder's message

“Sometimes it’s difficult. Other times, painful. But, in the end, it’s progress.”

Ryan Gellert

Read our CEO's message

Business
Unusual

We exist to save our home, planet Earth. This isn't just a statement of purpose; it's legally embedded in the way our company is structured and governed.

Product

Creating functional, durable, and high-quality equipment is the essence of our business. But our understanding of quality is unconventional. Our products must not only be functionally superior to those of our competitors, but they must also minimize harm, discourage overconsumption, and last long enough to be passed down through generations.

Ian Durkin

“Having high-quality products that are useful links our company to the real world and allows us to expand our mission.”

Work in Progress Report - Chapter 2

178,711

metric tons of greenhouse gases emitted by our supply chain in fiscal year 2025.

174,799

products repaired worldwide during fiscal year 2025.

“Ew, used clothes!”

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~85%

of our products still does not have an end-of-life solution as of the close of fiscal year 2025.

We have been committed to organic virgin cotton since 1996. Today, we are on our way to adopting an even higher standard.

Tim Davis

Grants
and donations

Since 1985, we have donated 1% of all our sales to grassroots NGOs. Together with our owner, Holdfast Collective, the organizations and initiatives we fund form a powerful collective movement to protect, conserve, and regenerate our lands and waters for future generations.

“The most significant environmental victories in history have emerged from people-driven movements. Movements that, from the outset, were backed by strategies, advocates, and actions, as well as financial support.”

Work in Progress Report - Chapter 3

$14.7M

in grants and in-kind support during fiscal year 2025 donated to 824 non-profit organizations through our 1% for the Planet® program.

$240M

in environmental grants since the founding of our company.

“Keep selling clothes.”

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$2M

Funding from Holdfast Collective was used to protect more than 800 hectares of the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia, USA.

In June 2025, Holdfast Collective helped The Nature Conservancy purchase and protect 8,000 acres near the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, the largest blackwater swamp in the United States.

Larry A. Woodward | USFWS

Activism

Many of the grassroots NGOs we fund have ambitious ideas, low overhead costs, and are led by small teams. Sometimes, the best help they can receive is a check, but almost always, what we offer beyond money is what makes the difference: our resources, our voice, and our platforms.

“By providing grassroots activists with tools, training and support so they can defend their cause clearly and effectively, we make a contribution that is just as valuable as financial support.”

Work in Progress Report - Chapter 4

$2.4M

savings for the beneficiaries of our grants through our skills-based volunteering program during the fiscal year 2025.

1M+

of actions initiated through Patagonia Action Works to support our grant recipients during fiscal year 2025 in the form of donations, petition signing, or event participation.

“Focus on selling clothes.”

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For years, we have supported activists in their fight to save Europe's last wild river, the Vjosa. Some challenges still lie ahead, but their efforts have already paid off.

Leeway Collective

27,000

paid employee hours dedicated to volunteering during fiscal year 2025.

A message from Yvon Chouinard

Founder and former CEO of Patagonia

After selling Patagonia in 2022, I worked far more than an 86-year-old should. The threats to the planet's health are on the rise. The climate and nature crises are worsening, and the truth is being diluted in a sea of lies and misinformation. Although I returned to my roots designing and working on the quality of our products, I see that things have changed. I feel an even greater responsibility to help the company succeed and offer an alternative to the prevailing extractive capitalist model.

And it feels harder than ever.

With the transfer of ownership in 2022, we ensured that the company's values would remain intact even after we were gone. It also enabled a way to distribute more money to help save the planet. We knew we would face other issues in the future, but we never imagined seeing trade wars wreaking havoc on the global economy, alongside attacks on nature and the environment.

Patagonia never aimed to generate profit, but money and the way we run our company are two of the most effective tools we have to protect nature. We dedicate our company to saving the planet, but it's clear that politics today openly benefits those who prosper by exploiting it. We are seeing what happens when extractive capitalism becomes the doctrine of governments.

The pursuit of short-term profit and mindless consumption are destroying the planet, and this has negative consequences for most businesses. To put it in perspective, when Patagonia was founded in 1973, the average lifespan of a US company on the S&P 500 list was around 30 years. Today, it doesn't even reach 18. More and more companies are being acquired or stripped of their assets, and the number of billionaires is on the rise. An entrepreneur's success is no longer measured by the consolidation of their company but by the money they get from selling it. This is unsustainable, but there are no signs that it will change. If we add to this an attack on science that is undoing decades of progress in the fight against climate change, any company that wants to exist for many years should change its primary purpose to saving the planet, unless it can come up with a way to make money on a dying planet.

“I have worked much more than an 86-year-old person should.”

Patagonia is far from a perfect company. We don't have all the answers, but we can't let the fear of making mistakes stop us from trying to do things right. We still have a lot of work to do to reach the full potential of our business structure, prove that this experiment works, and explain why it's important to our employees and our community.

What's clear is that, despite all the work we do on our products and supply chain, and all the money we donate to environmental nonprofits, it's still not enough. We can dedicate all our time and resources to saving the planet, but our impact is limited considering what we're up against. If we've learned anything from working with grassroots activists, it's that when enough people come together to work toward a cause, you can change a system.

To achieve this, companies must exist for more than just providing good services or products. And they must certainly aspire to much more than enriching a select few. What they can and should do is solve problems. The influence of businesses transcends borders and shapes government policies everywhere. Imagine what would happen if pressure groups and lobbyists prioritized the health of the planet and its people over environmental deregulation. Or if just a few multinational mega-corporations dedicated a portion of their profits to making a positive impact without considering the tax benefits they could reap. Similarly, if enough companies joined together and decided that our planet takes priority over profits, we could change the world. We could change capitalism forever. We could even save the planet.

The next 50 years are not going to be easy. The planet is in a bad way, and many leaders have succumbed to cynicism or speculation. But we don't have to do the same. Businesses and society can set aside hopelessness and apathy to shape a future for everyone. We can stand up against factory farming and air and water pollution, and reject quarterly results as the basis of our morality.

We can change this disastrous form of extractive capitalism that has brought us to this point. But we must take the first step.

Yvon Chouinard

A message from Ryan Gellert

CEO of Patagonia

Patagonia is a paradox. Our statutes require us to adopt practices that are responsible to society and the environment. Yet, all the products we manufacture consume irreplaceable resources from the planet. Our existence seems to contradict our purpose. It's a tension we don't ignore.

Like any organization, we don't operate in isolation. Our impact is often influenced by global and geographical events, and much of the most urgent work we do doesn't have a specific endpoint or a universally agreed-upon definition of success. The best we can do is adapt to the circumstances, both as a company and as global citizens.

Businesses are partly responsible for the climate and ecological crisis. And we see governments backtracking on their social and environmental commitments, making corporate responsibility increasingly urgent. If we want a habitable planet in 100 years, we must take the initiative and use our influence to defend it, beyond self-interest.

“Sometimes it’s difficult. Other times, painful. But, in the end, it’s progress.”

We need to promote policies that protect ecosystems, instead of supporting environmental deregulation. It's important to make it clear that being pro-business doesn't mean being against the planet. Companies must stop saying they care about the planet only to then hide behind organizations that lobby against climate action, prioritizing their profits. Let's agree that corporate climate action goes beyond sustainability slogans and examine our own practices and impact. We're all going to have to do our part, which will sometimes be uncomfortable. The planet needs all the help it can get.

This doesn't mean Patagonia has already discovered the solution to the impact issue. We're not even close. It took us 52 years to get where we are, and the road wasn't always straight. Sometimes it was difficult. Other times, painful. But, in the end, it's progress.

This report illustrates pivotal moments, such as when we realized that carbon neutrality did not meet our environmental responsibility standards (page 13) or our ongoing efforts to eliminate recruitment fees and charges for migrant workers who manufacture our products (page 75). We also reflect on the impact of our fair trade efforts (page 73) and the nearly two decades of research to remove PFAS from our products (page 79), as well as acknowledging all the work that lies ahead to decarbonize our supply chain (page 80).

We wanted to avoid at all costs a report filled with self-congratulatory content. While we delve into the work of various teams and acknowledge the merit of our colleagues, with this report we seek to be accountable to our community by showing where our commitment lies and what we are doing to fulfill it. We hope to provide clarity and inspire action. By sharing good practices and overcoming the fear of pointing out bad ones, we can achieve a real and lasting impact. Businesses can be a force for good.

Ryan Gellert

The Earth She's not an easy boss.

“Despite all the work we do and all the money we donate, it’s still not enough.”

“Sometimes it’s difficult. Other times, painful. But, in the end, it’s progress.”

Business Unusual

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Product

Grants and donations

Activism

The Earth
She's not an easy boss.

Business
Unusual

Grants
and donations