Portland, OR-based Columbia Sportswear Company has helped give more than 46,000 people access to clean drinking water.

The global maker of apparel, outerwear and footwear, whose products sell extensively in the promotional products industry, partnered with the Planet Water Foundation to build 26 water-filtration towers near its supply chain partners. That’s just one of the highlights from the company’s 2022 Impact Report, which includes performance highlights and progress made in the three pillars of its corporate responsibility strategy: empowering people, sustaining places and responsible practices.

Columbia Sportswear Company recently released its 2022 ESG Impact Report.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives remained a priority for Columbia, despite operational challenges related to the pandemic and supply chain disruptions last year, according to the company.

“In 2022, we maintained our commitment to reducing our impact on the planet and having a positive impact on people by continuing to evolve our use of technologies, practices and policies,” said Tim Boyle, chairman, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear.

In addition to supporting Planet Water, Columbia noted that it supported 11 manufacturing partner facilities that were kicking off training programs in health, finance and gender equality, benefiting more than 21,000 workers.

Overall, Columbia donated more than $3 million to charity in 2022, a figure that includes cash and product donations.

“We are committed to making the outdoors accessible to all, from working with community partners to supporting programs and initiatives in the places that our products are made,” said Abel Navarrete, vice president of sustainability and community impact at the firm.

The company also expanded the boundaries of its greenhouse gas inventory. For Scope 1 and Scope 2, it now includes global operations, as opposed to just North America. In addition, Columbia said it’s investigating solutions such as greater energy efficiency and procurement of renewables to reduce emissions from electricity use. Scope 3 – the indirect emissions up and down its value chain – make up roughly 95% of Columbia’s carbon footprint, but the company says it’s still working on finalizing an inventory of that impact.

Another highlight from 2022: The firm launched a Climate Progress Report Tool to enhance data verification and reporting capabilities for the facilities of its manufacturing partners. And Columbia continues to work with factories that score high on social responsibility ratings, with more than 84% of partners scoring a B or above on the company’s internal rating system.

A publicly traded company with a global workforce of more than 9,000, Columbia Sportswear Company said it earned more than $3.4 billion in net sales in 2022, across its family of brands.

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