SAN FRANCISCO, Calif./AMSTERDAM — April 26 2022 — The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), a global multi-stakeholder nonprofit alliance for the consumer goods industry, is pleased to announce its partnership with Fair Wear and the Ethical Trading Initiative focused on facilitating collective action across the industry towards achieving the 45 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by 2030. The partnership, which falls under The Industry We Want (TIWW), is part of an initiative geared towards ensuring dignity for workers in decent jobs, thriving businesses along the supply chain, and a positive impact on the planet.
TIWW have developed a set of metrics for the garment and footwear industry to measure action across 3 pillars: social, commercial and environmental. The impact metrics will be presented in TIWW’s first ever industry dashboard, which will be updated annually and function as a “temperature check” for the sector as a whole.
The SAC will lead TIWW’s environmental pillar and work closely with fellow Apparel Alliance member, the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), to ensure an annual update of the dashboard data, providing a yearly check-in on the progress the industry has made to reduce emissions. The SAC will also support in the development and implementation of TIWW’s overall strategy, coordinate key partnerships, support the TIWW led events and participate in the annual evaluation of the project to identify areas for improvement as needed.
“We are honored to be partnering with the Fair Wear and the Ethical Trading Initiative on this initiative and believe it will enable us to leverage our strength in collaboration with our fellow Apparel Alliance members to achieve our vision of an industry that gives more than it takes. As an organization committed to empowering the consumer goods industry with data to understand how to improve its environmental credentials, this partnership reinforces our commitment to transforming the industry to better serve the needs of people and planet,” said Amina Razvi, executive director of the SAC.
The SAC will leverage TIWW’s platform to support organisations set and achieve clear science based targets (SBTs), ensuring the industry stays on track to fulfill its climate change commitments, particularly the 45% reduction target, to significantly reduce emissions and deliver on the climate goals to keep warming within planetary boundaries.
Fair Wear and the Ethical Trading Initiative launched TIWW in early 2021, with a vision to create a garment and footwear industry that realizes its full potential to ensure dignity for workers in decent jobs, thriving businesses along the supply chain and a positive impact on the planet. The first iteration of TIWW’s dashboard showcased the estimated total emissions of the apparel sector, drawing data from Aii’s & WRI’s report “Roadmap to Net Zero: Delivering Science-Based Targets in the Apparel Sector”, based on SAC’s and Textile Exchange data. The dashboard was also created in collaboration with the WageIndicator Foundation and the Better Buying Institute to present metrics on the living wage gap and purchasing practices in the sector.
“The tumultuousness of Covid-19 and growing impacts of climate change are near daily reminders that real change is needed in the way we conduct business. The urgency is clear, yet, working on root problems in the garment and footwear sector is a challenge we have yet to overcome. Therefore, it is with great excitement that Fair Wear and ETI welcome SAC as a lead partner in The Industry We Want initiative, assuring we drive industry-wide progress on environmental impact as well as on commercial and social practices, said Alexander Kohnstamm, director Fair Wear and Peter McAllister, director ETI.
TIWW will be hosting a Deep Dive Session on May 12, from 5-6pm CEST, on the GHG emissions metric, which sits under its environmental pillar. The session will explore details of the TIWW’s GHG metric, which is informed by the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) and World Resources Institute (WRI) report Roadmap to Net Zero. The event is open for interested participants to register and join other stakeholders in exploring the methodology behind the metric, and learn more about how the industry can accelerate progress towards net-zero in line with TIWW’s vision for a just and regenerative garment sector.
Posted April 26, 2022
Source: Sustainable Apparel Coalition
