Patagonia has released a report disclosing the company’s progress toward using business to implement solutions to the climate and ecological crisis.
Intended as a spin on the typical corporate impact report, Patagonia’s Work in Progress Report provides the most comprehensive view of its business impact, ownership structure and environmental giving that it has ever released.
As company employees began creating the document a year ago, it became clear the report would need to balance data and metrics with narrative storytelling for context. The report's name has conveyed the notion that Patagonia sees itself as an experiment in doing business differently and as a work in progress.
“We want to show our employees, customers and community where we are doing well, and where we have work to do,” said Corley Kenna, chief impact and communications officer at Patagonia.
“We are not perfect, as this report will show, but we remain steadfastly committed to improving all parts of our business, from making the highest quality products to supporting our employees and community of activists and ambassadors. This report is a transparency tool, not a victory lap.”
Since opening its first store in Tāhuna, Queenstown, in January 2024, Patagonia has continued to build connections with local communities by supporting grassroots conservation efforts and environmental organisations.
“Our goal isn’t perfection; it’s progress. This report doesn’t just share where we’re making an impact; it also shows where we still have work to do. In New Zealand, we’re just getting started,” said Cody Randell, Patagonia New Zealand Operations Manager.
In September 2022, Patagonia announced founder Yvon Chouinard and his family had transferred ownership of the company to the Holdfast Collective and the Patagonia Purpose Trust. The ownership structure allowed the company to indefinitely remain bound to its purpose of saving the home planet.
Its excess profits are distributed to Holdfast Collective, a collection of nonprofits that use the money to protect nature and biodiversity.
As a privately held company, Patagonia has never been required to provide annual stakeholder reporting. Over the years, the company has shared its efforts through Our Footprint online, B Corp assessments, and other tools. Until now, however, this reporting has been disjointed.
The report spans Fiscal Year 2025, from May 2024 to April 2025, and includes some older data to provide context. Key subjects include:
- Responsible Business — How Patagonia exists as an experiment in doing business more responsibly.
- Product — How the company builds quality, functional products responsibly and reduces the quantity of items its customers need.
- Community engagement — How the company activates its community to connect with the natural world and become environmental activists.
- Giving ecosystem — How the company uses its resources to find solutions to the climate and ecological crisis.
Randell added that Patagonia’s unconventional approach is deliberate.
“We’re here to protect the places and communities that make outdoor life in New Zealand so special, and to show that business can be a force for good. We’re excited to build on this work even more in the near future as Patagonia grows in New Zealand.”
