Profitability and sustainability go together, Patagonia's advocacy director says

Traditional capitalism is not working for the planet or the public, and needs an overhaul, says Beth Thoren, environmental action and initiatives director at Patagonia. Where governments are failing to regulate, Thoren argues, corporations should be making the change anyway. “If we continue to live in a world where shareholder value is the only thing that is valued, we will burn up and die,” she says.

She joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail Patagonia's business model—which gives its profit to environmental organizations—and shares how the company is making a push for other corporations to follow, while taking stands against boondoggles like the space race via their #NotMars campaign.

In founder and CEO Yvon Chouinard's words, Patagonia exists to "force government and corporations to take action in solving our environmental problems." These are words the company backs up with its environmental marketing campaigns, its business model, its films and books.

The company details its philosophy and the lessons learned from 50 years in business in the book, The Future of the Responsible Company, published this month.

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Image caption: Beth Thoren, Environment Director, Patagonia. London, U.K.Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Photographer: Jason Alden for Patagonia

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