Climate commitments and transparency

This category assesses whether fashion brands are setting climate and energy targets that are in line with keeping global warming below 1.5°C and if they are providing sufficient transparency regarding their baseline and progress toward those targets.

Strong GHG emissions reduction targets remain a key first step to sector decarbonisation. The UN Emissions Gap Report 2020 identified the need for an absolute emissions cut, across all sectors and industries, of 55% by 2030 against a 2018 baseline.^[1] This is the criteria applied in this scorecard. This cut will be achieved in the fashion industry by working to rapidly phase out coal and other fossil fuels in manufacturing, and transitioning brands’ own operations and supply chains to renewable energy. This shift will be signaled by a clear commitment from brands to achieve 100% renewable energy across their own operations and supply chains by 2030.

To provide full transparency, brands must share in-depth reporting on their emissions, electricity use and sourcing, and energy use throughout the value chain, as well as publishing detailed supplier lists from Tier 1 to Tier 4.

The last 18 months have seen positive movement in the industry as the updated UN Fashion Charter set more ambitious targets for its 130+ signatory companies in November 2021.^[2] The UN Fashion Charter took an important step forward by calling for a deeper and more systemic change to the industry and committing companies to set more ambitious supply chain targets. However, the target emissions cut of 50% or equivalent called for by it is still short of the 55% needed.

With up to 97% of emissions tallied in Scope 3 (across the value chain,^[4] including at fabric mills, farms, and factories),^[5] Scope 3 targets are the most important measure of climate ambition. Since the release of the 2021 Scorecard, some progress has been made by companies in increasing ambition, with eight brands setting targets for the first time (Capri Holdings, Columbia, Prada, SHEIN, and Fast Retailing) or increasing their supply chain emissions reduction target (H&M, Kering, and PVH).

In 2021, only four companies (ASICS, Levi’s, Mammut, and REI) had set Scope 3 targets meeting the 55% reduction goal. In 2023, this has risen to five companies with the addition of H&M. Further, the proportion of brands setting targets across their supply chain that are close to 1.5°C alignment has risen from 15% to 28%. This trend of increasing commitments is promising, but overall supply chain ambition, even among UN Fashion Charter signatories, is still falling far short of the needs of the moment.

In addition, seven brands still have intensity-based targets rather than absolute reduction targets.^[6] The following brands provided data on the equivalent projected absolute emissions reduction that their intensity target would result in, meaning the actual change in their expected emissions. In all cases, they fall short of the emissions reduction needed to align with a 1.5°C target. In the last year, athleisure brand lululemon effectively reduced its Scope 3 emissions target by excluding an additional 30% of its supply chain emissions but did not state why this was done. The company has an intensity-based Scope 3 emissions reduction target of 60% by 2030, but it is unclear what the equivalent absolute reduction of its total Scope 3 emissions will be.^[7]

In the last 18 months many more brands have made commitments to 100% renewable energy in their own operations, in part as a result of the UN Fashion Charter including this target in its renewed commitments. The proportion of companies scored in this report who committed to reach 100% renewable energy in their own operations rose from 48% in 2021 to 79% in 2023. However, the vast majority of companies are still heavily reliant on low-value unbundled renewable energy credits to achieve this goal.^[8]For brands to be considered leaders in renewable energy, they need to ensure that the energy they acquire is new and additional to the grid and supports the energy transition.

A more meaningful commitment to renewable energy would be for brands to commit to transition their entire supply chain to renewable energy. With a few notable exceptions, fashion companies are still failing to take responsibility for their supply chain energy footprint. In the last 18 months, only H&M has taken the essential step of committing to transition to 100% renewable energy in their supply chain, joining Kering, Allbirds, ASICS, and PUMA as the leading brands in this category. Renewable energy is essential to achieving the scale of emissions cuts needed in fashion supply chains.

Five brands have committed to supply chain renewable energy targets:

• Allbirds has committed to achieving 100% renewable energy for Tier 1 suppliers.
• ASICS states it will achieve 85% renewable electricity in Tier 1 by 2030.
• H&M has committed to transition its supply chain to renewable energy by 2030.
• Kering has committed to transition its supply chain to renewable energy by 2030.
• PUMA has committed to source 25% renewable energy with core suppliers.

Supply chain transparency is key to ensuring accountability to targets, and while regular reporting on full Scope 3 GHG emissions is now common, with the notable exceptions of Allbirds, Capri Holdings, Columbia, MEC, Patagonia, Primark, SHEIN, and Under Armour, only two companies – PUMA and Nike – are showing leadership by providing transparency into the renewable energy used in their supply chains.

Companies also have an important role to play in advancing the phase-out of thermal coal (coal burned for heat or steam) in their manufacturing processes. Stand.earth did see signs of progress in this area in 2022, including a renewed commitment to coal phase-out among UN Fashion Charter members. Still, only just over half of companies scored have made a commitment to end coal use by 2030 – all UN Fashion Charter signatories – and only a handful (adidas, American Eagle Outfitters, H&M, lululemon, PUMA) have publicly set nearer-term interim targets to begin phasing out coal.

Despite 37 out of 43 companies assessed now having committed to reduce their supply chain emissions through engagement in the UN Fashion Charter, Science-Based Targets, climate policies, or statements on their websites, there is an implementation gap. If we account for an emissions dip in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and consider emissions change between 2019 and 2021, of 29 companies which reported data, only 13 showed decreases in their production emissions (defined here as Scope 3 Category 1, purchased goods and services). Further, 14 companies logged increasing emissions over this period. The total emissions change over this period was an increase of 20.65%, showing a dangerous level of growth at a time when the industry needs to be bringing its emissions under control. Even excluding retail giants Amazon and Walmart,^[9] the total emissions increased by 3.46% when it needs to decline rapidly.^[10]

The sector’s continued emissions growth clearly indicates a failure by the majority of brands to act fast enough to prioritise phasing out coal and other fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy sources. It is encouraging to see a correlation developing between brands which had the commitment to increase the use of renewable energy in the supply chain since the emissions period, and decreasing emissions (ASICS, PUMA, Kering). Levi’s, which has an ambitious scope 3 emissions target of 40% reduction by 2025 – five years earlier than the other brands in the scorecard – also reported one of the biggest actual emissions reductions, indicating that its earlier efforts are paying off. 

Overall, while there are signs of progress and ambition is creeping up, the pace of change remains slow. Of particular concern is the slow progress of brands to commit to 100% renewable energy in the supply chain, while evidence of actual emissions increases reveals a disconnect between commitments and real emissions reductions. Time is of the essence; brands have a clear responsibility to cut their emissions rapidly and be transparent about their progress; and should take action now to set stronger climate and energy targets that reach into the greatest source of their emissions – their supply chains.