Everything members need to know about the Higg FEM verification changes, use cases, and evolution of the tool.
Everything members need to know about the Higg FEM verification changes, use cases, and evolution of the tool.
With the Higg FEM 4.0 update, Cascale made changes to its verification approach. In short, this started with narrowing the scope of verification to a Core set of questions in CY2024 (Higg FEM 2023), slightly expanding the verification scope to all Level 1 questions in CY2025 (Higg FEM 2024), and committing to develop a fit for purpose approach to verify Level 2 and Level 3 questions.
The latest verification update evolved with members in mind. With deployment of Higg FEM 3.0 in the Cascale member supply chains, tool adoption scaled exponentially at the rate of 60 percent CAGR between CY2019 and CY2023. Through member interactions and monitoring adoption patterns, Cascale observed that the Higg FEM has evolved to serve three distinct use cases, described in Exhibit A below.
Exhibit A: Evolution of Higg FEM use cases
Evolution of Higg FEM Use Cases:
1) Code of Conduct / Foundational performance of a factory (permits, discharges, and management systems, among other factors)
2) Impact Metrics (quantities of resources consumed: energy, water, and environmental impact created: GHG, waste, wastewater, and air emissions)
3) Performance Management: targets, baselines, improvements, Progressive and Aspirational indicators in Level 2, Level 3 of Higg FEM.
During its Annual Meeting in Munich, Germany held in September 2024, Cascale presented these use cases at the Session titled: “Higg FEM and Verification Evolution.” The full session recap can be found here. Cascale received validating feedback on these use cases from the member community.
Image: Cascale member cut and sew factory during Higg FEM verification Image credit: Dhawall Mane
With such varied use cases, verification approaches and methods needed to evolve accordingly. Note that the current verification approach for environmental assessment such as Higg FEM is primarily inspired from the social audits approach, which is fit for Use Case 1) mentioned above.
The intent of questions in Levels 2 and 3 of Higg FEM is geared towards evaluating the progressive and aspirational practices of a factory. The scoring weightage for Level 2 questions is 50 percent, while Level 3 questions is 25 percent, indicating that a significant proportion of the scoring weightage (75 percent) is pinned on questions in Level 2 and Level 3. Cascale believes that adopting a coaching-based approach, wherein verification is viewed as an engagement rather than an event, is necessary to bring transformational change for the factories engaging with the verification process. One example of this is whether a facility has a coal phase out plan (Section: Energy & GHG, Question: 17, Level 2); Cascale envisions a verification approach wherein the verifier can support the factory to identify and unlock barriers towards phasing out coal from their operations, rather than merely identifying whether the factory’s response is accurate or inaccurate
Cascale has resourced a three phase project on Verification Scope Expansion starting in the second quarter this year to support this industry need. The first phase is aimed at publishing a whitepaper which outlines the verification methods and implementation criteria for such an expanded verification service. This whitepaper will also set the base for a pilot which will be conducted by Cascale to test such an approach in the real world before releasing it at scale. This whitepaper, aimed to be released in the first quarter of 2025, shall be built in consultation with Cascale members. Members curious about the consultation process can tune into the town hall in December on governance, tools, and membership via Cascale Connect.
As for what’s next, please stay tuned for more information detailing the ongoing evolution of the verification program. Cascale will be sharing key updates on our website as well as Cascale Connect.
Global consumer goods nonprofit releases annual update of Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM)
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – November 7, 2024: Today, in partnership with Worldly, Cascale launched the latest version of its Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) to provide more precise and verified environmental data on the consumer goods manufacturing supply chain, as well as reduce reporting duplication for manufacturers, saving businesses valuable time and resources.
For over a decade, the Higg FEM tool has been a critical sustainability assessment for the consumer goods industry, allowing users to drive continuous improvement on environmental management practices, support legislative compliance and risk management practices, and collect impact data to track progress against reduction targets. Today, it is used by over 20,000 companies worldwide. Higg FEM is part of the Higg Index, which is developed and owned by global nonprofit alliance Cascale and exclusively available on Worldly, the industry’s leading sustainability data insights platform.
“The updates to Higg FEM 2024 are a direct response to the needs of our members and Higg Index community,” said Colin Browne, Cascale CEO. “Higg FEM 2024 embodies our unwavering dedication to providing the most credible, impactful data. By incorporating valuable insights from members and stakeholders, we’ve ensured that this latest version continues to set the standard for environmental assessments to drive meaningful change across the industry.”
Higg FEM 2024 now integrates Worldly’s Facility Data Manager (FDM). With FDM, facilities can track and share quantitative environmental metrics on a monthly basis and import that data into the Higg FEM on Worldly’s platform. This streamlines data collection for facilities and saves time in completing the annual Higg FEM assessment.
“At Worldly, we view Higg FEM 2024 as a pivotal advancement in measuring and driving environmental impact, enabling our customers to act faster with greater precision and high-quality primary data,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Worldly. “The integration of Higg FEM with our Facility Data Manager provides manufacturers a distinct advantage by reducing friction in data capture throughout the year and seamlessly connecting with Higg FEM to minimize duplication of effort—a key goal. We are proud of our partnership with Cascale as we support both brands and manufacturers through streamlined data capture processes and actionable insights, driving progress toward sustainability goals and regulatory compliance.”
The Higg FEM 2024 update also expands the scope of verification to include waste impact metrics, in addition to the existing metrics on energy, GHG, water, wastewater and air emissions. Expanding the verification approach ensures that the data provided remains relevant and impactful.
This update reflects a collaborative effort, where Cascale engaged with over 85 leading brand and manufacturer members across 17 consultation sessions in 2024. With Higg FEM 2024, Cascale and Worldly underscore their commitment to innovation and continuous improvement with the Higg Index suite of tools, which are updated annually. To help Cascale members and Higg FEM users better understand the latest update and changes, Cascale and Worldly will co-host a Higg FEM 2024 Launch Webinar on November 14.
ABOUT CASCALE
Cascale is the global nonprofit alliance empowering collaboration to drive equitable and restorative business practices in the consumer goods industry. Formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Cascale owns and develops the Higg Index, which is exclusively available on Worldly, the leading sustainability data insights platform. Cascale unites over 300 retailers, brands, manufacturers, governments, academics, and NGO/nonprofit affiliates around the globe through one singular vision: To catalyze impact at scale and give back more than we take to the planet and its people.
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ABOUT WORLDLY
Worldly is the planet’s most comprehensive impact intelligence platform, trusted by 40,000+ major brands, retailers, and manufacturers in fashion, outdoor, home goods, toys, and more. Worldly uniquely collects high-resolution primary data specific to companies’ value chains, operations, and products, providing insight into true impacts across carbon, water, chemistry, and labor. Featuring the most comprehensive source of ESG data for global manufacturers and the largest library of materials and product impacts, Worldly empowers businesses to scale responsibility into their global operations, faster and more accurately. Hosting, connecting with, and supporting the leading industry solutions and methodologies including ZDHC, Bluesign, and the Higg Index – the most widely-adopted measure of sustainability in the apparel industry – Worldly delivers the insights businesses need to reduce their impact, comply with emerging regulatory and financial disclosure requirements, and meet the expectations of a new generation of customers. www.worldly.io
Dhawall Mane director, verification, training and insights, participated in a virtual To the Finish Line (TFL) event organized by GIZ in Vietnam.
Cascale team member Dhawall Mane director, verification, training and insights, recently participated in a virtual To the Finish Line (TFL) event organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Vietnam.
TFL is a program designed to support continued environmental performance in Vietnam’s apparel supply chain through the effective use of Cascale’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) tool, which is exclusively available on Worldly. More than 700 manufacturers were invited to attend the town hall event; most participants were Higg FEM users.
Higg FEM is a transformative tool used to assess the environmental impact of product manufacturing at facilities, including water use, waste management, chemical, and energy use. In doing so, it not only uncovers hotspot areas for improvement, but also reduces redundancy, mitigates risk, and creates a common language to communicate sustainability to stakeholders. Vietnam is currently the second-highest ranked in v-Higg FEM country average score (Higg FEM 2022) and, reflecting Cascale’s own founding and guiding principles, TFL aims for pre-competitive collaboration for collective action.
Through TFL, manufacturers in the region can share knowledge to support environmental sustainability while responding to evolving needs for due diligence and shared responsibility. Participants are also invited to join a Professional Peer Community of Learning for Action on Higg FEM and beyond. Established in 2022 and running continuously since then, the goal of the TFL program is to create an exchange platform of practical knowledge by industry for industry, supporting peer-to-peer learning and problem solving.
The large-scale and practical TFL training program consists of two web-based sessions designed to elevate understanding of aspects of the Higg FEM, including management of energy, water, waste, chemicals, and greenhouse gas emissions. In the “Scaling Collective Action” session to which Cascale’s Mane contributed, regional industry stakeholders discussed practical tips on implementation. These included pooling financial and time resources, as well as what impact the TFL program has had so far and how the industry can adopt similar collective action programs in different sourcing regions.
Mane emphasized the importance of taking a systems approach in tracking data and of entrusting this responsibility to qualified, accountable personnel such as those trained through the program. “TFL is a shining example of Vietnam’s leadership in undertaking supply chain capacity building programs for Higg FEM,” Mane said.
Discover how Sappi harnesses data and innovation to pave the way toward a sustainable future and set new industry benchmarks.
— Tom Radovich, Managing Director, Cloquet Mill, Sappi North America.
In a significant achievement, Sappi’s Cloquet Mill in Cloquet, Minnesota, is one of the first dissolving pulp facilities to complete an external environmental management verification process.
The mill achieved an overall score of 91.5 percent in 2022 in the Higg Facility Environmental Model (Higg FEM) audit, earning a verified score of 100 percent in the categories of energy, water, and wastewater management. According to Krelyne Andrew, general manager, sustainability for Verve, Cloquet Mill has been adopting and verifying the Higg FEM for five years. Dissolving pulp manufactured at the Cloquet Mill meets EU Ecolabel requirements for textile and non-woven wood-based fibers, and Verve from the Cloquet operation continues to remain a fiber of choice for their customers.
The Cloquet Mill, one of the newest modern pulp mills in North America, is ISO 14001-certified and has recently undergone significant process improvements from award-winning projects1 targeting water-use reduction, energy savings, and improving pollution control through equipment upgrades to the boilers. Today, over 80 percent of the mill’s total energy use is from renewable resources, and over 90 percent of the power used is generated on-site from renewable fuels.
Leveraging the power of data and insights from the Higg FEM, Sappi not only tracks and reports annual energy use and carbon emissions but also identifies and prioritizes areas for performance improvement. Cloquet achieves these excellent results through the use of live, online monitoring of various process parameters and focuses on areas that allow for continuous improvement coupled with capital investments.
Cascale manufacturer member Sappi is a leading global provider of everyday materials crafted from wood-based fiber from renewable resources, with raw materials including dissolving pulp, wood pulp, and biomaterials. Aligned with their Thrive strategy, Sappi has set and achieved ambitious sustainability initiatives that include greenhouse gas reduction, specific energy reduction, and landfilled waste reduction. Sappi’s Cloquet Mill prioritizes the protection of the environment through pollution prevention and manufacturing efficiency.
Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sappi employs over 12,000 individuals in manufacturing facilities in nine countries on three continents. Sappi is a diversified, innovative, and trusted leader focused on sustainable processes and products, building a more circular economy using every part of the tree.
1 Sappi’s Cloquet Mill won the American Forest & Paper Association’s 2023 Leadership in Sustainability Award for Water Management for its “Cloquet Mill Effluent TSS Reduction” project, which was designed to find a new chemical treatment program to reduce the total suspended solids (TSS) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) substances in the mill’s effluent, thereby reducing the load being sent to the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District in Minnesota. The project achieved an immediate and consistent reduction in TSS of 11,500 lbs. per day, a reduction in BOD of 1,800 lbs. per day, and a reduction in mercury to the sanitary district from 37.9 ppt to 6.3 ppt.
Discover how a leading international clothing retailer utilizes Higg FEM and Higg MSI to shape their decarbonization strategy and pave the way for meaningful change.
— Dan Roe, Climate Change Programme Senior Manager, Primark.
Primark, a leading international clothing retailer employing over 75,000 people in 16 countries, launched Primark Cares, their sustainability strategy, in 2021. Over the past three years, the company has focused on developing a decarbonization program for its value chain, with their headline target looking at a 50 percent reduction in absolute Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2030 from an FY19 baseline. A significant milestone, Primark’s science-based targets received validation from the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) in 2023, showcasing their commitment to align with global efforts to combat climate change.
In addressing emissions from their own operations, the company committed to reducing energy use in their retail locations and incorporating renewable energy. However, a substantial 97.5 percent of their base year carbon emissions occurred in their supply chain. As a result, Primark is focused on collaborating with suppliers to address emissions and reduce their carbon footprint. Utilizing the Higg FEM and Higg MSI tools enables Primark to understand and measure the environmental impacts of their supply chain.
The Higg FEM serves as a key source of supply chain primary data, empowering Primark to calculate a more precise carbon footprint. This tool captures the outcomes of emissions reduction initiatives targeting facilities in their supply chain and demonstrates progress toward their overarching decarbonization target. Notably, in 20221, 1,083 of Primark’s supplier facilities completed the Higg FEM self-assessment, with 590 sites undergoing verification of their self-assessments and achieving an average score of 56 percent. These scores offer valuable insights, enabling factories to pinpoint opportunities for enhancing environmental performance. In addition to the Higg FEM, Primark also leverages data and insights from the Higg MSI to calculate supply chain emissions. This tool provides valuable LCA data specific to the materials and goods procured by Primark.
Since joining Cascale in 2015, Primark has worked with their supply chain partners to adopt the Higg Index to assess environmental impact. With the roll-out of the Higg Index across their supply chain, the company embraces a standardized measurement of environmental sustainability performance, enabling continuous improvement efforts.
1 Figures refer to Higg FEM modules covering 2022 calendar year data.
Over 200 in-person attendees joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), for the second edition of its Manufacturer Forum, on December 4, 2023 in Bangalore, India. Building on the theme, Catalysts for Change, the event brought together business leaders and stakeholders to discuss the future of sustainability, supply chain compliance, verification, policy alignment, and more.
“The use of the Higg Index tools is just one step of many that we must take to solve the most complex sustainability challenges for the sector,” said Jeremy Lardeau, vice president Higg index at the SAC. “This is why we do not stop at delivering data and tools, but also develop programs and events like Manufacturer Forums, where stakeholders can come together and take collective action for industry progress.”
Dr. Vidhura Ralapanawe, executive vice president at Epic Group and an SAC board director delivered a thoughtful keynote, calling for urgent action to combat climate change. “How much we do, and how fast we work to decarbonize, and how much we aspire to achieve is on us. Because climate change is not happening in 2030 or 2050, it’s happening now. This is our chance, our choice,” Ralapanawe said.
Dr. Laxmikant Jawale, regional lead for South Asia & Southeast Asia at the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), and Erlinda Lee, director of global membership development from the SAC, delved into a discussion that explored the dynamic collaboration between the SAC and Aii. The session allowed attendees to gain a deeper understanding of the mission, purpose, and collaborative efforts of both organizations to propel the industry forward. It also provided valuable knowledge on how to leverage programs offered through the partnership to effectively tackle the challenges associated with decarbonization and how manufacturers can get involved
Later that day, sessions explored critical issues including climate change, how policy and legislation impacts manufacturers, and the evolving landscape of sustainability verification.
Ringo Yu, manager of the SAC’s Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) highlighted the compounding impact of climate change, such as how extreme heat waves, torrential rain, and flooding impacts India’s community, natural environment, and economy. He shared that there’s currently a low level of science-based target adoption in the apparel, footwear, and textile sector. He shared insights on the newly launched program and how the SAC is spearheading and amplifying industry initiatives for combating climate change. The program aims to accelerate the number of manufacturers at corporate level to set science-aligned targets for scope 1 and 2, enhance their understanding on climate change related risks, and explore opportunities to take climate actions. “It is important to pursue a leadership mindset first and take action individually to drive change collectively by participating in programs such as the MCAP,” Yu said.
Gauri Sharma, assistant general manager of communications and sustainability innovation at Shahi Exports Pvt Ltd. joined Mousumi Sarang, country manager for India at the Fair Wear Foundation to discuss the intricacies of current and future policy challenges in the textile industry. ”Legislations built and shaped in the Global North have a deep cascading effect in the supply chain, Sharma said. “Hence in the Global South, it is important to develop an understanding of what these means for manufacturers.”
Angela Ng, director of Higg Facility Tools at the SAC, Janne Koopmans, head of collaboration at ZDHC, and Yashinth Wijerathne, manager of environmental sustainability at Hirdaramani Apparel, discussed the recently launched Higg FEM 4.0 and its vital role in standardized measurement and accurate reporting. “The Higg FEM 4.0 allows manufacturers to see what is really important and evolve from there,” Ng said.
Dhawal Mane, director of training and verification at the SAC, and Jeremy Lardeau, SAC vice president of Higg Index, presented on the evolving landscape of sustainability verification within the industry. “Higg FEM verification growth over the past 5 years has demonstrated the collaboration of SAC members on a shared environmental assessment. It is time to simultaneously invest in value through evolving our approach for verification. Our Core verification approach this year is the first step in that direction,” Mane said.
Attendees also received training to support their Higg FEM 4.0 self-assessment, get certified in setting Science-Based Targets, and develop plans for health and safety remediation and workers rights.
The SAC announced the return of Manufacturer Forums earlier this year, with the first in-person event taking place in Shenzhen, China on July 25 at Sheraton Shenzhen Futian Hotel. This was the first in-person Manufacturer Forum the SAC had hosted since 2019.
The Bangalore Manufacturer Forum online photo gallery is available here. Manufacturers who are interested in participating in an upcoming Manufacturer Forum can click here to subscribe for updates.
Joyce Tsoi, SAC director of Collective Action, co-hosted an in-person and virtual meetings in Vietnam and Cambodia to kick off the SAC x Project Development Programme (PDP), which aims to develop and scale rooftop solar photovoltaic project(s) to manufacturing facilities in Vietnam and Cambodia. Implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Project Development Programme (PDP) is an integral part of the German Energy Solutions Initiative. Coordinated and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) it aims to globalise German and European technologies and expertise in climate-friendly energy solutions. The PDP combines development cooperation with private-sector engagement to foster partnerships between local businesses and trusted providers of climate-friendly energy solutions, creating mutually beneficial outcomes and advancing the energy transition in its cooperation countries. Simultaneously, German and European providers benefit by easing their market entry into developing and emerging countries.
In Vietnam, the meeting also included a presentation from Eunice Doan, energy advisor and Country Representative of PDP Vietnam, and Lucia Hoang, regional manager of CSR Southeast Asia for Bureau Veritas, a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection, and assessment services. In Cambodia, presenters included Vabotra Chea, Technical Advisor and Country Representative of PDP Cambodia, and Rijan Shrestha, Technical Advisor and Country Manager of PDP Cambodia.
At both meetings, Tsoi shared information about the SAC’s Collective Action team, which oversees the development of its Decarbonization Program in support of the organization’s goals to achieve a 45 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in line with science-based targets (SBTs) by 2030 — and to zero by 2050. The SAC launched the Decarbonization Program in 2022 and integrated SBTs into SAC’s membership requirements in 2023, with over 50 percent of members having taken this action to date. “We believe that this is the most credible and ambitious approach, backed by the latest climate science,” Tsoi said. “SBTs have become fundamental expectations for companies globally in multiple industries and we want to enable our industry towards a low carbon transition by shifting from heavily fossil fuels use to adopting renewables or low carbon sources.
To achieve these goals, the SAC partnered with Textile Exchange and Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) to form the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), creating a connected, end-to-end path to action for the entire apparel and footwear industry. The Collective Action team is committed to activate the SAC’s ecosystem for action and announced the launch of the Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) in September of this year. Designed in collaboration with NIKE and Target Corporation, the MCAP is a critical component of the SAC’s Decarbonization Program efforts to catalyze support and drive the sector toward ambitious yet necessary CO2 emissions reductions. Tsoi also shared the four key elements that form the core of MCAP, empowering manufacturers to define their scope 1 and 2 science-aligned targets, immediately take critical action to reduce their direct and indirect emissions and improve operational efficiency in order to advance industry goals.
During the Vietnam meeting, Tsoi used data accessed through the SAC’s Higg Facility Environmental Module tool in order to break down the mix of energy sources at manufacturing sites both globally and in Vietnam; the use case illuminated the sector’s dependence on fossil fuels. Over 80% of energy usage in 1253 facilities in Vietnam are from fossil fuels. Only 12.4% of energy comes from renewable energy sources. She also shared data on renewable energy adoption around the globe and was able to show Vietnam is a progressive country to increase its renewable energy capacity to sustain the growth of its industries. Following Tsoi’s presentation, Hoang shared the service offerings of Bureau Veritas Vietnam, which can support manufacturers in conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs), performing energy diagnosis services and consulting for GHG calculation and setting SBTs. Doan then explained the support and services offered to facilities by PDP, which guides facilities through the development process of solar PV technology and the selection of system size; service provider, equipment, and best investment scenario. These include technical evaluation, investment appraisal development, solar power implementation, and introduction to financing opportunities with preferential loan interest rates.
At the Cambodia meeting, Vabotra explained that with an average daily solar radiation of 5 kWh/m2 and average sunshine of 8 hours per day, Cambodia is one of the Southeast Asia countries that has high solar potential. He also discussed the regulatory landscape in terms of the history of Cambodia’s solar development, options to deploy renewables based on the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)’s updated principles of permitting the use of rooftop solar power. Rijan followed with an explanation of how the PDP team can support manufacturers in technical evaluation, investment proposals, and project implementation.
Celebrating the launch of the Higg Facility Environment Module (FEM) 4.0 tool, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and Worldly hosted a series of webinars for global stakeholders. The presentations illustrated how the updated Higg FEM tool marks an industry milestone in sustainability reporting to meet pressing environmental issues and industry standards, positioning the Higg FEM 4.0 as the leading assessment for environmental performance in the consumer goods industry.
Facilitated by Loretta Tam, vice president of Customer Success at Worldly, the presentation kicked off with Scott Raskin, chief executive officer of Worldly, who conveyed the urgency of value chain participation in light of increased regulatory disclosure. Higg FEM 4.0 aligns with key global standards — including the GHG Protocol, the SBTi, and the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero — to drive emissions reductions and reduce duplicative reporting.
Amina Razvi, CEO of SAC, shared how Higg FEM 4.0 was redesigned to meet industry needs, offering broader coverage of critical environmental issues, such as groundwater and soil contamination, to help facilitate improvements on a global scale. It also features improved and streamlined usability by including targeted questions relevant to facilities. Additionally, Higg FEM 4.0 unveiled a new anomaly detector designed to flag inconsistencies on-platform. The result, Razvi shared, is a tool that delivers better data quality and a more accurate environmental assessment.
Jeremy Lardeau, VP of Higg Index at SAC, presented on the specifics of the tool’s design during the first webinar, which was timed for participants from the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa; on the second, timed for participants from the Asia-Pacific region, this information was shared by Angela Ng, director, Higg Facility Tools at SAC. They were joined by John Armstrong, chief technology officer at Worldly, who presented on user experience, and Eustaquio Brant, environmental program manager at Bestseller, who shared the brand’s experience with Higg FEM 4.0.
The participants emphasized that the teams engaged 140 representatives across 12 Member Expert Teams (METs) to collect stakeholder feedback, spending two years on the process of building Higg FEM 4.0. Stakeholders on the METs represented 62 manufacturers, 57 brands/retailers, 10 service providers, and five affiliate members, and provided insights that helped to shape the FEM framework, scoring methodology, question content, and more, to build a tool that meets relevant industry standards and protocols. Finally, the webinar sessions outlined how Higg FEM 4.0 was tested by more than 400 users, who provided feedback within the platform. After a Q&A session, each webinar concluded with the understanding that Higg FEM 4.0 empowers users to identify, prioritize, and scale sustainability efforts.
As members transition to Higg FEM 4.0, the SAC and Worldly will host additional member and user webinars and Office Hours throughout the month.
Jeremy Lardeau, vice president of Higg Index at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, joined a recent panel hosted by Worldly, an impact intelligence platform that is the exclusive licensee of the SAC Higg Index Tools, to discuss how brands can prepare for Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires all large and listed companies (except listed micro-enterprises) to report on impacts to people and the environment, detailing how the risks materialize for investors. Lardeau joined John Armstrong, Worldly chief technology officer, and JR Siegel, Worldly senior director of product innovation, to discuss how companies can use the Higg Facility Tools to begin collecting the data in 2024 that they will need to report on ESG impact in 2025.
After Armstrong shared an overview of the changing sustainability landscape, Lardeau detailed the value of the Higg Index to report data and walked through key aspects of a CSRD guide that the SAC and Worldly are currently developing. He discussed how the Higg Index focuses on sustainability areas of high impact including carbon emissions, wastewater and energy among others. Through the Higg Index Tools, businesses can access the insights they will need for impact reduction, compliance and disclosure, Lardeau said.
However, when it comes to reducing carbon emissions, Lardeau noted that the vast majority of a fashion brand’s footprint is in its manufacturing supply chain, especially energy-intensive raw material production, preparation and processing. To that end, the Higg Facility Facility Environmental Module (FEM) tool helps facilities build a comprehensive view of primary energy, water and waste data in order to better understand impact and develop science-based strategies to reduce scope 3 emissions. Lardeau recommended a partnership approach, in which key suppliers can be engaged and incentivized through better purchasing practices, such as faster payment plans and larger orders with greater lead times.
To conclude the presentation, Siegel detailed how Worldly is mapping the CSRD to the Higg Tools and walked through key aspects of the guide.
Learn how one of the world’s leading and most innovative garment and fabrics manufacturers has achieved remarkable results on their journey towards a nature-positive and people-centric future.
– Quentin Thorel, Group Head of Sustainability at CIEL Textile.
CIEL Textile, an industry pioneer in sustainable practices, recently completed a purpose-driven transformation with remarkable results. With a strategic focus on fostering a nature-positive future, and ensuring decent work for all, their 2023 impact is indeed impressive.
In 2019, CIEL Textile implemented the Higg Facility Social and Labor Module (FSLM) and Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) tools across all of its 19 facilities, which employ 23,000 talents. Three years later, the impact is clear: CIEL Textile achieved a verified FSLM score of 85 percent and an impressive average FEM score of 88.4 percent – with some locations exceeding 90 percent.
Meticulously tracking and monitoring sustainability metrics using several digital tools such as the Higg Index, the group tripled its investment in dedicated sustainability resources across all 19 facilities. This investment significantly impacted recruitment, working hours, wages, health and safety and more, emphasizing CIEL Textile’s commitment to improving the lives of its employees.
CIEL Textile’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond its own operations: the group actively encourages its brand partners and stakeholders to align and adopt the Higg Facility Tools, avoiding not only audit duplication, but also empowering them, fostering a shared commitment to industry-wide sustainability. The group has already achieved its 2030 target of eliminating coal from its supply chains and is on track for goals related to carbon, water, waste management and circularity – including environmental improvement projects such as conserving and regenerating natural ecosystems and installing rainwater harvesting systems. Looking ahead, CIEL Textile aims for a verified Higg FEM score of 95 percent at all of its factories by 2025, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to driving sustainability and positive change in the apparel industry.
