The ORCC, a voluntary network founded in 2021 by now ten leading trading companies in the European outdoor industry – including Bergfreunde, Bergzeit, Sport Schuster, Sport Conrad, Sporter AG and Globetrotter – presents the progress in various areas relevant to climate protection in its 2024 annual report.
The report summarizes the climate data provided by members and provides an overview of key developments in the area of emissions measurement, climate strategies and common industry standards. There is progress in reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions as well as data availability in Scope 3 through the development of a common supplier database.
Improvements to Scope 1 and Scope 2
70 percent of retail companies have completely measured their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions for 2024. Scope 1 includes the direct CO2 emissions in your own company – such as your own vehicle fleet, Scope 2 includes the indirect release of CO2 by energy suppliers. Improvements were achieved here compared to the companies’ underlying base years, which can be attributed to measures such as the use of renewable energies, more energy-efficient building technology or adjustments to vehicle fleets. Overall, the companies were able to reduce their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by a total of 4,857 tons of CO2e in 2024 compared to their respective base years.
Building a common database
The collection of Scope 3 data remains complex, but it is by far the largest source of CO2. Nevertheless, 70 percent of members collected data on relevant categories in 2024. At the moment, the results are only comparable to a limited extent due to differences in system boundaries, data bases and methods. In this context, a common database for generic Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) was set up. The database is based on information from various manufacturers and is intended to enable retailers to calculate emissions in the Scope 3.1 area more consistently and precisely in the future. Further activities to harmonize calculation methods within the ORCC are also underway.
Overall, the ORCC considers it an important milestone that the work of the network has strengthened the collaboration with suppliers, the further development of the common supplier database, and the introduction of a common retailer voice in discussions of the industry association European Outdoor Group (EOG).