Amer Sports Under Scrutiny: Arc’teryx Faces Environmental Impact Investigation

Arc’teryx provokes an avalanche of criticism on networks. The Canadian high-performance outdoor company, owned by Amer Sports Group, is the focus of an investigation by Chinese authorities after sponsoring a fireworks display in the Tibet region on Friday. The initiative has provoked a harsh reaction on social networks due to users’ concerns about the effect on the environment.

The Shigatse government announced last Sunday its intention to send a team to investigate the collaboration of the Canadian company, owned by Amer Sports, which is controlled by the Anta Sports Products group, with pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang. The fireworks project, called Rising Dragon, took place on September 19th in the city of Shigatse, at an altitude of 5,500 meters.

The event was posted on social media on Saturday, prompting a backlash from users, who criticized that the initiative did not align with the brand’s image of outdoor products aimed at protecting nature. Some users expressed their intention to boycott Arc’teryx products.

Arc’teryx pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050

Arc’teryx removed the video after receiving criticism from users and released a statement in which it said it would hire an environmental protection agency to conduct a transparent assessment of the brand’s products and actions. It also acknowledged insufficient assessment of the limits of artistic expression and apologized in a statement posted on Weibo.

The group pledged last December to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, which requires a 90% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 42% reduction in Scope 3 GHG emissions by 2030.

The Canadian company, which has more than 2,400 retail outlets worldwide, has switched to using Cycora proprietary polyester fiber in its product lines, driving material innovation in the performance apparel sector. The company partnered in late 2024 with Ambercycle, enabling increased accessibility of molecular regeneration technology for the U.S. company.

Last August, Amer Sports, also owner of Wilson and Atomic, already indicated that it expected to post a record fiscal year, shooting up both its sales and net income, which has multiplied in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same period last year. In the first six months of 2024, it earned $5.1 million, while this year it stood at $160.5 million. Although the company does not break down its turnover by each of the brands in its portfolio, it did post its highest growth of 29% in the outdoor segment in the first half, with Salomon leading the way with sales of 916.1 million dollars. Technical apparel, with a 26% increase in sales, reached $1.172 billion.