A New Report by Stand.earth Ranked the Climate Commitments of 45 Major Fashion Companies
A new report by environmental group Stand.earth, has found that your favorite fashion brands and retail stores may not be doing too as well at making their businesses more sustainable. While some retailers are putting in the work and succeeding at their environmental endeavors, others still have a lot of work to do.
The group recently released their Filthy Fashion Climate Scorecard, which ranks the "climate commitments of 45 top fashion companies" including American Eagle, Levi's, LVMH, Nike, and Zara, and truth be told, their findings are not all that shocking. According to the report, many of companies have made public efforts to change their manufacturing processes for the betterment of the climate, but have fallen short. The report found that "nearly all of the companies (except two) have failed to reach the level of emissions reduction needed to align with the UN Paris Agreement’s pathway to 1.5°C degrees of warming and avert the worst consequences of climate change," according to a press release from the organization.
Companies are measured on a few different commitments and given scores up to 50 points for each bucket including commitment to reductions in direct emissions from owned and controlled operations and the energy used to power them, use of renewable energy, commitment to reductions in global supply chain emissions, and long-term global supply chain emissions reductions. Companies can also receive five bonus points each for things like supplier incentive programs and low carbon textile sourcing as well. Their scores are then collected and they're ranked in order. This year, Levi's came out on top, with American Eagle at a close second and Burberry rounding it out at number three. Brands like Target, Ganni, and Adidas landed in the middle, and Nordstrom scored zero points. LVMH, which owns everything from Dior to Fendi to Pucci, scored a 14; they earned points for emissions reductions and renewable energy. Stand.earth found that 17 of the companies they studied for their report have made little to no effort to improve their manufacturing processes, and that could potentially "put the world on a path to climate catastrophe, with 3 or more degrees of warming."
“A handful of companies, including Levi’s, Burberry, the Gap, H&M, and American Eagle are taking meaningful strides to shift their global supply chains off dirty fossil fuels. But many other companies are relying on false solutions to meet their climate commitments – easy measures that look good on paper but fail to tackle carbon pollution in the real world," said Liz McDowell, Filthy Fashion Campaign Director at Stand.earth in a press release. "While the industry’s progress is encouraging, signing onto one of these initiatives doesn’t guarantee that a company will take climate action in line with the scale of emissions reductions needed to keep the world below a dangerous level of warming." According to the group's findings, "companies will not be able to adequately reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C ambition unless they transition their supply chains off of coal and on to renewable energy."
The fashion industry's impact on the climate is a serious problem, though it does seem as though many brands are more aware of their role in these potentially-catastrophic changes and are working to improve. In August, luxury brands like Gucci, Chanel, and Prada announced their intention to join up with brands like H&M to help combat the industry's negative impact on the environment, signing the "Fashion Pact" to ensure their partnership.
It's important to keep brands accountable as they continue to push sustainable initiatives and recognize their impact on the environment. And while we're thrilled to see that some brands, like Levi's, Gap, and H&M, are putting in the work for a more sustainable tomorrow, we've still got a long way to go. The Stand.earth report proves that while you can talk the talk, it's a lot more difficult to actually walk the walk.
Teen Vogue has reached out to Nordstrom for comment.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
