Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – November 5, 2026: Cascale, the global nonprofit industry alliance for consumer goods sustainability, today launched the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) 2026, stewarded by Cascale and exclusively available on Worldly, along with new impact data demonstrating that facilities with longer Higg FEM tenure and sustained engagement over time achieve significant environmental progress.

“The latest impact data proves that consistent, long-term engagement leads to real-world results, with facilities demonstrating a 22 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions as their tenure grows,” said Maravillas Rodriguez Zarco, vice president of tools and data at Cascale.

“For manufacturers, environmental progress begins with understanding their current performance and identifying opportunities for improvement,” said Mahantesh Bangari, General Manager – Environment, Health & Safety (EHS), Gokaldas Exports Limited, a Cascale Corporate Member. “The Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) provides a structured framework to assess environmental performance, strengthen management practices and drive continuous improvement. By focusing on reliable data, measurable outcomes and resource efficiency, manufacturers can build more resilient and sustainable operations.”“Consistent measurement is essential to turning sustainability commitments into meaningful progress,” said Chris Dearing, Vice President of Group Sustainability at Coats, a Cascale Corporate Member. “Higg FEM helps us assess environmental performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and track progress over time. Sustained engagement and reliable data are critical to strengthening our impact, accelerating progress across our supply chain, and driving meaningful change for the industry.”

Impact Data & Key Insights

The latest impact data demonstrates the value of sustained Higg FEM engagement over time, with facilities achieving measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in foundational environmental practices. The findings highlight progress across multiple areas of environmental performance, while also identifying opportunities for further improvement.

• Tenure Drives Performance: Foundational performance improves significantly as facility tenure grows. While only 24 percent of first-time submitters meet baseline requirements, performance rises to 37 percent by the fifth cycle In the Higg FEM 2025, 8,186 facilities successfully met every foundational practice. Engaged facilities have cut emissions 22 percent in four years.
• Practice by practice, the floor is rising. Of the 16 environmental practices with the most room to improve in 2023, facilities achieved progress across 14.

Higg FEM 2026 Update 

Building on these performance gains from sustained tenure, Cascale launched the Higg FEM 2026 update on November 5 for over 20,000 participating companies. The 2026 update introduces major enhancements:

• Modularity & FEP Module: The update introduces modularity through the new Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) Module, establishing a standardized baseline for environmental management across global supply chains.
• Content Improvements & Validation: Enhanced platform guidance directly integrates the How to Higg Guide, aligns greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting standards, and introduces stronger data validation (including automated checks on water usage) to prevent errors and improve data quality.
• Verification Operations: Verification rigor remains focused on Level 1 questions – including the new FEP Module — ensuring actionable, high-integrity data for brands and manufacturers alike.

ABOUT CASCALE

Cascale is the global nonprofit industry alliance where consumer goods organizations turn shared sustainability ambitions into measurable progress at scale to combat climate change and support decent work for all. We unite 300 Corporate and Affiliate members in pre-competitive collaboration, turning shared measurement and collective action into reduced risk, stronger credibility, and long-term resilience. Our work is anchored by Cascale’s stewardship of the Higg Index frameworks (accessed through the Worldly compliance and sustainability platform), along with the Better Buying and Sustainable Furnishings Council tools.

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