Fashion Brands’ Net Zero Commitments Are Greenwashing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Stand.earth is releasing an analysis on the state of several major fashion brands’ net zero commitments. The analysis notes that many of the companies lacked the tools necessary to actually achieve these goals throughout the supply chain, including adding interim goals and targets. 

The companies include American Eagle, UNIQLO, Gap, H&M, Zara, Kering, Levi’s, lululemon, Nike and VF Corporation.  

This comes after the UN Secretary General recently charged an expert group to bring a much-needed definition of what a net-zero commitment should look like. The UN’s High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Net Zero Emissions Commitment released important new guidance at COP27, to bring some weight and clarity behind what steps a company must take to become Net Zero. 

“If companies want to prove they’re not just greenwashing they need to follow the net zero guidelines set out by the HLEG and be the carbon reduction leaders they pretend to be,” Gary Cook, Corporate Campaigns Director at Stand.earth said. “We’re seeing a lot of greenwashing from the fashion industry because they know consumers want sustainable and ethical products, but they need to show how they are moving off fossil fuels, and prove they’re not just all talk.”

Stand evaluated these ten brands among many global fast fashion, luxury, casual and footwear brands, and compared their current commitments against the HLEG guidance in three key areas: climate ambition, phasing out fossil fuels-transitioning to renewable energy, and transparency and accountability.

A summary of the key findings:

• Net Zero Ambition is not stretching into brands’ value chains, where the vast majority of their GHG emissions are buried.
• While brands are embracing renewable energy in their own operations, there’s a large implementation gap when it comes to supply chain fossil fuel phase-out.
• Brands are failing to provide supply chain transparency essential for accountability to their targets.

This analysis is in addition to a report Stand released earlier this month on the increase of carbon emissions from various major fashion brands over the past year. 

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Media Contact: 

Emily Pomilio, Stand.earth Corporate Campaigns, emily@eriksongroup.com

Gary Cook, Corporate Campaigns Director, Stand.earth, gary@stand.earth