Columbia Sportswear

OVERALL
Owned	USA
Rating

Clothing

65% owned by the founding Boyle family. Distributed in Australia by Outdoor Performance Pty Ltd.


Columbia Sportswear Company	USA	website	email

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE

CRITICISM

INFORMATION

Columbia Sportswear Company

Child labour scorecard

This website by German NGO Earth Link rates companies on their corporate policies against child labour, production monitoring and accusations of child labour. This company received at least one green mark, and no red marks, indicating good performance in one or more of these areas.
[Source 2013][More on Human Rights]

Uzbek cotton commitment

This company has signed the Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not knowingly source Uzbek cotton for the manufacturing of any of their products until the Government of Uzbekistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. The Uzbek government uses local government officials, hospital directors, and school presidents to mobilize workers; and detains and tortures human rights defenders seeking to monitor the harvests. This company has also signed the Turkmenistan Cotton Pledge, where systemic use of forced labour in cotton production also occurs.
[Source 2019][More on Human Rights]

Workers rights in India

Female migrants employed in garment factories in Bangalore, India are recruited with false promises about wages and benefits, and are subjected to conditions of modern slavery. They work under high-pressure for low wages, and live in hostels with poor living conditions while their freedom of movement is severely restricted. This company was identified in the 2018 report "Labour Without Liberty" as sourcing garments from these factories.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]

'E' rating at rankabrand.org

Rank a Brand searches the websites of brands for the answers to carefully targeted questions. From this they calculate sustainability scores based on the themes of environment, climate, labor issues, and transparency. Brands owned by this company received an 'E', the lowest possible score.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]

Supply chain practices in China

This company received a score of 33/100 (retrieved 14-Feb-2018) in the Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI), a system for evaluating supply chain practices in China, particularly in regards to environmental management and water pollution. Scores are calculated using government compliance data, online monitoring data, and third-party environmental audits, as well as trends in the environmental performance of factories in the company's supply chains.
[Source 2018][More on Habitats]

Greenwashing

Brands owned by this company are on RankaBrand's Greenwashing Alert list. These are companies that report in some way on sustainability, but the information they provide is either of marginal or no relevance and is not explicit about sustainability performance.
[Source 2014][More on Irresponsible Marketing]

31/100 in KnowTheChain Benchmark

In 2018 KnowTheChain benchmarked 120 large global companies in the ICT, Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear sectors on their efforts to address forced labour and human trafficking in their supply chains. This company received a score of 31/100.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]

Sweatshops in El Salvadore

This 2011 investigative report into the Ocean Sky Apparel Factory in El Salvador reveals how workers are: paid well below living wage, illegally forced to work overtime, given unsafe drinking water, fired for attempting to unionise, and cursed at and humiliated. Their customers include Reebok, Puma, Columbia and GAP. (Listed under information due to age of report)
[Source 2011][More on Workers Rights]

Sweatshops in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines

This 2011 report by the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) examined working conditions in 83 factories in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Investigations found that widespread violations and abuses of workers' rights continue to be the norm, such as underpaying workers, long hours, forced overtime, and repression of the freedom of association. This company's brands were found to be made in one or more of the 83 factories covered in the research. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2011][More on Workers rights]

Hunting equipment sales

Columbia makes and sells equipment for hunting and fishing.
[Source 2012][More on Animal Rights]

EOCA member

This company is a member of the European Outdoor Conservation Association, a non-profit charitable organisation which supports conservation work by raising funds from within the European Outdoor sector and promoting care and respect for wild places. Follow link for details on some of Columbia's green products and what else they do to support conservation.
[Source 2017][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]

Use of RDS-certified down

This company has committed to making products with RDS-certified down. The Responsible Down Standard (RDS) is an independent, voluntary global standard which ensures that down and feathers come from ducks and geese that have been treated well, with no live plucking or force feeding. However the RDS has been criticised by PETA, who claim live plucking still occurs at RDS farms. (http://bit.ly/2cYTtoJ)
[Source 2016][More on Animal Rights]

Fur free

This company has announced that they don't sell animal fur or are phasing in a fur-free policy.
[Source 2014][More on Animal Rights]

Sustainable Apparel Coalition member

This company is a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in March 2011 by a group of global apparel and footwear companies and non-profit organizations (representing nearly one third of the global market share for apparel and footwear). The Coalition's goals are to reduce the apparel industry's environmental and social impact, and to develop a universal index to measure environmental and social performance of apparel products.
[Source 2018][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]

Supply Chain Compliance

This 2010 report by As You Sow, "Toward a Safe, Just Workplace: Apparel Supply Chain Compliance Programs", provides a scorecard and report focus on company programs such as: factory auditing, remediation, continuous improvement, collaboration, company management accountability, and transparency. This company received a B rating.
[Source 2010][More on Workers Rights]

Cotton sourcing (As You Sow)

Responsible Sourcing Network's 2014 report Cotton Sourcing Snapshot: A Survey of Corporate Practices to End Forced Labor includes survey results and ratings of 49 companies reflecting actions they are taking to stop cotton from Uzbekistan picked with forced labor from entering their supply chains. The survey offered a maximum of 100 points across 11 indicators in the categories of Policy, Public Disclosure, Engagement, and Implementation & Auditing. Only five companies scored over 50 points, 19 companies scored under 25 points, and two companies scored zero. This company received a score of 32.
[Source 2014][More on Human Rights]

22/100 in Fashion Transparency Index

The 2018 Fashion Transparency Index looks at how much brands know about their supply chains, what kind of policies they have in place and importantly, how much information they share with the public about their practices and products. This company scored 22%, signifying it is doing a bit more than the others when it comes to having policies and commitments in place and auditing and reporting activities, but could be doing more. The average score was 21% and the highest score was 58%.
[Source 2018][More on Sustainability Reporting]

Transparency Pledge

The Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge (Transparency Pledge) helps demonstrate apparel and footwear companies' commitment towards greater transparency in their manufacturing supply chain. Transparency of a company's manufacturing supply chain better enables a company to collaborate with civil society in identifying, assessing, and avoiding actual or potential adverse human rights impacts. This is a critical step that strengthens a company's human rights due diligence. This company has made no additional commitments to meet Pledge standards.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]

Green Outdoor Gear profile

Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth Melbourne has created a website which profiles outdoor gear companies and rates them according to a range of sustainability criteria. Follow the link to see this company's profile.
[Source 2011]

OpenSecrets.org profile

OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
[Source 2014]

> About the Icons

Company Details

Company Structure	Public company
Revenue	US$201 billion in 2014
# Employees	5,326 in 2014

Contact Details

Address	Portland, Oregon, USA
Website	www.columbia.com

Products / Brands

Columbia Sportswear

Columbia Outdoor Wear
Columbia Sportswear
Columbia Mens Shoes
Columbia Sports Shoes
Mountain Hardware Outdoor Wear

Columbia Sportswear

OVERALL

Company Assessment

Company Details

Contact Details

Products / Brands

Featured Pages

Connect

Legal