STOCKHOLM, Sweden/WASHINGTON — April 4, 2017 — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) today launched a joint partnership to boost the use of clean, renewable energy in the garment sector, while also slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
Renewable energy already powers 96 percent of H&M’s own global operations, and this partnership aims to expand this climate-friendly approach to the independent garment factories that produce its fashions throughout the world. H&M products are manufactured by around 790 independent suppliers, indirectly creating jobs for around 1.6 million people, of whom about 65 percent are female.
H&M will partner with IFC to guide its strategic tier one and two suppliers in China, India and Bangladesh in adopting renewable energy solutions, thereby improving environmental sustainability within the H&M global supply chain. H&M and IFC will develop a platform for implementation of practical renewable energy solutions on the ground to achieve meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through adoption of clean energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro power; an approach that will be initially taken in three countries of high importance to H&M but which can ultimately be replicated in other markets.
Climate change poses a fundamental threat to economic development, and per the World Bank, could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030.
“H&M has an ambition to work with a climate neutral supply chain (Tier 1 and Tier 2) by 2030 and we see IFC as an important partner in this journey. IFC’s vast experience working with renewable energy and climate related topics in several developing countries will be very valuable in driving this agenda together with our business partners. We believe that this partnership will not only have a positive climate impact on H&M’s supply chain but also on the fashion industry as a whole” said Pierre Börjesson, Sustainability Business expert – Climate Change and Water Stewardship, H&M
H&M is committed to a goal of 100 percent renewable energy usage in its own operations, and is one of the first companies in the industry to start setting climate-change and renewable energy goals along its value chain.
“Cutting greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for the environment, but importantly, this project will create a low-carbon roadmap that shows how it makes good financial sense for firms too,” said Milagros Rivas Saiz, Global Head Advisory at IFC.
IFC has a proven track record of supporting the development of renewable power. Since it started tracking climate-related investments in 2005, IFC has committed more than $7.6 billion for renewable energy from own account. This includes almost $5 billion in large-scale on-grid renewable energy generation, $500 million in renewable energy component manufacturing, and $2.2 billion through financial intermediaries and other sectors.
IFC Senior Energy Specialist Jeremy Levin added “In several countries distributed solar power can be cheaper than grid-provided power, and is far less costly for those suppliers who have to rely on expensive diesel generator sets to meet their power needs. This roadmap will provide direction on how to capture these savings.”
Posted April 4, 2017
Source: IFC and H&M Hennes & Mauritz
