Press Releases / Cascale Announces CEO Appointment

Cascale Announces CEO Appointment

Leadership

Cascale announced the appointment of Ying McGuire as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1, 2026.

February 10, 2026

Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – February 10, 2026: Cascale today announced the appointment of Ying McGuire as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1, 2026.

McGuire brings extensive global leadership experience across supply chains, international business development, and nonprofit transformation. She has led complex, multi-stakeholder organizations through periods of growth and change, building strong partnerships with global brands, manufacturers, policymakers, and civil society to deliver measurable impact.

Most recently, McGuire served as CEO and President of the U.S. National Minority Supplier Development Council, where she strengthened organizational performance, expanded stakeholder engagement, and modernized operations to support long-term mission delivery. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles at Dell Technologies and Technology Integration Group, overseeing global market expansion, strategic partnerships, and supply chain initiatives across multiple regions.

The Board appointed McGuire to lead Cascale at a pivotal moment for the industry, as the organization continues to sharpen its focus on delivering value for members and scaling collective action on climate, decent work, and responsible supply chains. McGuire will prioritize deep engagement with Cascale’s members and strategic stakeholders, operational excellence, and advancing collaborative solutions that translate ambition into practical, measurable progress.

The Board also extends its sincere thanks to Harsh Saini for her leadership as Interim CEO. As a highly respected senior leader with deep connections across the global consumer goods industry, Saini has brought her extensive experience working with brands, manufacturers, and government and trade stakeholders to this role. Under her leadership, Cascale continues to deliver against its priorities, strengthen key partnerships, and advance work to evolve the organization’s operating and membership models. She has provided steady, confident leadership for teams across regions and will continue to serve as Interim CEO through May 31, 2026, supporting a smooth transition as an advisor through the end of June.

On behalf of the Cascale Board, Tamar Hoek, Board Chair, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ying McGuire as Cascale’s next CEO and look forward to working closely with her, our members, and the broader ecosystem to strengthen collective action and advance a more sustainable and resilient global value chain.”

Media Contact: Forster Communications, cascaleforster@forster.co.uk

Blogs / Moonshot Ambitions Meet a Mandate for Change

Moonshot Ambitions Meet a Mandate for Change

Leadership

Harsh Saini, Cascale interim CEO, reflects on 2025 achievements and shortfalls, sets bold agenda for 2026.

The Cascale Board at the Annual Meeting 2025 in Hong Kong

Harsh Saini

December 19, 2025

When I reflect on the year 2025 and what’s ahead, I see in Cascale a clear mandate to meet moonshot ambitions with a maturing credibility to counter stagnation.

As our rebrand showcased, Cascale’s new era has evolved with renewed focus that centers impact. But as we know too well, we must bear into account today’s operational realities to evolve with strategic purpose.

Cascale aims to meet these rising demands with a decisive action plan.

Progress Made in 2025

Today, our membership stands at over 300+ organizations across the value chain and globe. Higg Index adoption surpasses 40,000 – with verifications up year-over-year in line with improving standards on data quality.

Under the public affairs team, Cascale has helped members navigate fast-moving regulations in Europe and the APAC region. Using our convening power to align industry positions, we’ve brought supplier perspectives further into the policy discussion. This includes but is not limited to Cascale’s manufacturer dialogues with International Apparel Federation (IAF), the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) recognition of Higg FEM In September, and the educational roadshow for the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for apparel and footwear.

At the Annual Meeting 2025 in Hong Kong, we brought together 700+ participants globally, with 120+ speakers, 33 sponsors, and 18 exhibitors across six stages. What mattered most wasn’t the scale alone, but the intent: creating space for senior leaders to engage directly with manufacturers and suppliers, and to work through challenges together rather than in parallel.

This built on the momentum from the Cascale Forum in Ho Chi Minh City earlier in the year and sets a strong foundation as we look ahead to the Cascale Forum in Colombo in March 2026. The value of bringing the industry into the room, face to face, is increasingly clear and remains central to how we drive progress.

Since inception, there have been 85 participating manufacturers in the Manufacturer Climate Action Program, with eight sponsoring brands, and 40 targets validated. Along with roadmapping climate hotspots, our team’s expert contributions to a decarbonization playbook have earned praise and inclusion at the year’s main climate event: COP30.

There are countless other wins and inflection points as we strive to deliver on unique member and stakeholder needs.

Yet even amid this progress, we see the industry is losing sight of the urgency needed to deliver on collective goals – like a 45-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a rallying cry for embedding responsible purchasing into business operations.

An Evolution Imperative

Over the past few months, you may have noticed a clear shift in both our pace and focus. That’s intentional. My mandate from the Board has been to help Cascale move from a period of transition into one of sharper execution and delivery.

What’s been visible externally reflects a year of internal work: leadership changes, strategic refinements, and decisions to strengthen Cascale’s foundations. This includes welcoming Better Buying and the Sustainable Furnishings Council into Cascale, and continuing the work to integrate these capabilities in a way that adds real value for our members.

Upon reflection, perhaps Board chair Tamar Hoek said it best: Cascale thrives in times of change, building an even stronger foundation.

Now, we have to move in even closer alignment. As our industry knows, the sustainability journey is sustained by the long-game not the short-term pivots.

And Operational Reset

When I stepped into the interim CEO role, the Board and I were aligned on a small number of clear priorities. Cascale was at a moment where a reset was needed, and my mandate was to bring greater discipline, clarity, and momentum to how we deliver.

That meant taking an honest look at some of the fundamentals: our finances, how we define and price member value, how we’re organized, how we govern ourselves, and how we manage the dependencies across our ecosystem. We’ve made tangible progress across all of these areas, and we’ll be sharing more detail in the period ahead.

We now have an even stronger foundation than we did six months ago. What this means for you is that by 2026, 2027, 2028, and beyond – Cascale as an organization is set up to deliver more value. What you gain in return is a stronger, more credible, more impactful Cascale that continues to meet evolving expectations – starting with new membership pricing and benefits packages.

Our Moonshot Ambition

Our Cascale community is ready for the next chapter. Stronger tools. Better data. Deeper supply chain reach and nuance. Expanded categories, a more streamlined structure, and the ability to operate at global scale.

This strategy turns this operational reset into a launchpad for industry-level impact.

As the year draws to a close, I want to leave you with one message. One of the industry’s most widely-used impact measurement tools, the Higg Index, was named after the Higgs Boson, a discovery that helped explain how the universe holds together. At its best, the Higg Index plays a similar role for our industry. It provides a shared foundation for understanding impact.

But our ambition goes beyond any single set of tools. Our moonshot is to help unify the industry itself.

That means moving beyond sustainability silos and being more open about both progress and setbacks. It means showing up not just in sustainability reports, but in annual reports, investor conversations, ratings, and indices. In boardrooms and on factory floors, we need to equip ourselves to design the future we’re aiming for.

This is the work ahead of us. Leading with credibility, authority, and a lot of heart.

Warmly,

Harsh

Blogs / What if the Real Leverage Point for Sustainability isn’t the Brand, it’s the Factory?

What if the Real Leverage Point for Sustainability isn’t the Brand, it’s the Factory?

Leadership
Policy and Legislation
Manufacturing

Explore how factory leaders are driving real sustainability progress through data, innovation, and collaboration in Lee Green’s latest blog.

A close-up of a sewist at her sewing machine.

Lee Green

November 24, 2025

Our industry often leads with brand leadership, but the real transformation is happening where few cameras point: the factory floor.

While regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) push companies toward accountability and disclosure, the real test is how those mandates ripple through global supply chains, and how factories respond.

Across sourcing regions like China, and APAC more broadly, a quiet revolution is taking place. In a series of country reports – spanning Bangladesh, Vietnam, and most recently China – we examined the role of factories in ushering in a greener economy. Factories are investing in renewables, adopting circular design principles, and harnessing digital tools to optimize energy and resource use. These are not incremental changes, they’re innovative shifts in mindset. Factories, and the people that empower them, are starting to see sustainability not as a compliance cost, but as a competitive advantage.

Factories, a Data-Rich Story Engine

Factory leaders are proving that innovation and impact can coexist at the very heart of production. In our travelogues among other methods, we’ve documented global real-life examples of this innovation, visiting manufacturers such as Artistic Milliners and Diamond Fabrics (part of the Sapphire Group) — both respective leaders in their field.

This is just scratching the surface.

After more than two decades in communications, one truth stands out: brands cannot lead alone. Systems, standards, and shared metrics matter more than slogans. The real power lies in collective frameworks (the very essence of the Higg Index) that enable transparency, comparability, and trust. They give manufacturers and brands a common language for progress, and a way to prove that progress is real.

And this is where storytelling matters. Because the data tells us what’s changing, but the story tells us why it matters. Translating measurement into meaning is how we move audiences, shift perception, and inspire action. The challenge for communicators today isn’t just to celebrate impact, but to frame it in a way that’s credible, grounded, and human. And in the crosshairs of AI, this couldn’t be more important.

A Collective Role to Play

At Cascale, we’re working to bridge that gap, and this recognition of the manufacturer’s role is the foundation for the upcoming Cascale Forum: Colombo, an event built on collaboration and leadership in driving sustainability progress: connecting measurement with meaning, ensuring that data becomes a catalyst for transformation, not just a line in a report. Because when manufacturers lead and brands listen, the industry moves faster, further, and with more integrity.

So the next time someone asks where the future of sustainability lies, don’t just point to the latest brand campaign. Point to the place where ambition meets action – the factory floor. If you are a brand marketer or sustainability practitioner, it’s your responsibility to tell the whole story.

And if you are a manufacturer looking to craft genuine narratives that go beyond the green hype, we invite you to share your challenges openly and elevate your successes (by way of case studies or interviews on Source of Good). In every convening point, we will continue to ensure your voice is central to the conversation.

Have a story to share? Reach out.

Blogs / Driving Collective Impact: How Cascale and Worldly’s Shared Value Loop Delivers Clarity and Impact

Driving Collective Impact: How Cascale and Worldly’s Shared Value Loop Delivers Clarity and Impact

Leadership
Higg Index Tools

In this joint blog post, Cascale’s Lee Green and Worldly’s Jay Gaines outline the shared value and goals between the two organizations.

Jay Gaines

Lee Green

November 12, 2025

In an industry as interconnected as ours, progress on sustainability depends on shared purpose, credible data, and scalable action.

That’s why Cascale and Worldly work together through what we call the Shared Value Loop, a concept we revealed at the Cascale Annual Meeting 2025 in Hong Kong. The Shared Value Loop is how Cascale and Worldly turn credibility into capability, and capability into measurable progress. It’s a living system that ensures standards evolve, data scales, and insights turn into impact across the value chain.

The Shared Value Loop represents how our two organizations — one a market-driven nonprofit, the other a leading technology platform — complement one another in driving industry transformation. It’s not just a collaboration; it’s a system designed to ensure that members, customers, and the broader community all benefit from clarity, consistency, and real results.

Where Credibility Meets Capability

Cascale and Worldly play different but deeply connected roles within the sustainability ecosystem.

Cascale convenes a global industry, and ensures the integrity of the tools, the alignment of methodologies, and the industry-wide governance that keeps our systems credible and trusted.
Worldly delivers those tools at scale through a real-time technology platform, proven analytics, and industry-forward innovation; making credible data accessible, actionable, and comparable.

Together, we close the loop between standard-setting and implementation, turning ambition into measurable impact. This collaboration ensures that credible standards become widely adopted practices — moving the industry from alignment to real-world execution.

Cascale builds the foundation for credible, science-based measurement. Worldly transforms that foundation into daily usability, enabling thousands of organizations to act on shared standards, at scale.

The Eight Dimensions of Shared Value

The Shared Value Loop is built around eight reinforcing elements that move from Cascale’s foundation of governance and legitimacy to Worldly’s enablement through data and technology.

1. Tool Governance & Methodology Integrity (Cascale)

Everything starts with a robust foundation. Cascale governs the methodologies that underpin its Higg Index tools, ensuring they are science-based, globally aligned, and further enhanced through a multi-stakeholder process.

2. Market Access & Industry Relevance (Cascale)

Cascale brings together 300+ members across the value chain — brands, manufacturers, and affiliates — ensuring the tools and frameworks stay relevant to real-world challenges and business needs.

3. Legitimacy & Accountability (Cascale)

Cascale’s multi-stakeholder governance provides transparency and accountability, giving industry, civil society, and academia a voice in shaping credible frameworks that include the voices of all actors, including the manufacturers.

4. Collective Action & Impact Leadership (Cascale → Worldly)

Through shared initiatives — from decarbonization programs to responsible purchasing practices — Cascale mobilizes its members and broader global community around shared commitments and the co-creation of solutions. Worldly then operationalizes those commitments through data and insights, turning collective intent into measurable outcomes.

5. Platform & Network Scale (Worldly)

Worldly connects the world’s largest sustainability network — tens of thousands of facilities and hundreds of brands and retailers — transforming individual data inputs into collective visibility and progress. This reach is powered by years of investment in innovation and customer enablement, ensuring the Higg Index and related tools reach the hands of those driving change on the ground.

6. Analytics & Actionable Intelligence (Worldly)

Worldly’s powerful analytics and benchmarking capabilities transform raw data into trusted intelligence, helping organizations predict risks, identify opportunities, track progress, and act with confidence.

7. Reporting & Risk Management (Worldly)

The platform supports credible reporting and risk management by offering consistent data outputs that align with major ESG disclosure frameworks and emerging regulatory requirements.

8. Technology Innovation & Enablement (Worldly)

Finally, Worldly’s ongoing innovation keeps the tools future-ready, integrating new capabilities like supplier dashboards, advanced benchmarking, and AI-driven analytics to accelerate learning and performance.

Delivering Value Across the Ecosystem

This Shared Value Loop ensures that every stakeholder benefits:

Retailers and brands gain credible, comparable data to guide business decisions and meet regulatory expectations.
Manufacturers gain visibility, benchmarking solutions, and opportunities to improve and be recognized for progress. They also gain efficiencies by aligning with a widely accepted standard (the Higg Index), and stronger alignment with their customers’ sustainability goals and increased access to markets that value verified performance.
Policymakers and investors gain confidence in standardized, verifiable data.
And the planet benefits from coordinated, data-driven action rather than fragmented, duplicative efforts.

By connecting Cascale’s convening power with Worldly’s delivery capability, the Shared Value Loop creates a self-reinforcing system: the more it’s used, the stronger and more valuable it becomes.

From Shared Framework to Shared Impact

We asked, and over 3,000 of you answered our recent awareness survey. You want a clearer depiction of how Cascale and Worldly work, and what benefits are ultimately delivered to you. The Shared Value Loop ensures every action reinforces the next, from credible standards to verified data to measurable progress. It’s how ambition turns into execution, and how our shared ecosystem grows stronger with every new participant. With your help, we are creating the alignment the industry needs to deliver on its sustainability goals — faster, smarter, and at scale.

Our shared goal is simple:

To equip the consumer goods industry with the trusted data and collaborative networks needed to achieve measurable, lasting impact.

As we expand further into adjacent product categories, such as home furnishings, this model will remain our foundation — helping new sectors tap into credible measurement, scalable data, and collective action.

Press Releases / Cascale Appoints Seasoned Executive as Interim CEO

Cascale Appoints Seasoned Executive as Interim CEO

Leadership

Cascale has announced Harsh Saini as interim CEO, effective August 1, following the conclusion of Colin Browne’s tenure.

July 01, 2025

Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – July 1, 2025: Cascale, the global nonprofit alliance formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, today announced Harsh Saini as interim CEO, effective August 1, following the conclusion of Colin Browne’s tenure. Saini, who currently serves on Cascale’s Board of Directors, will lead the organization as it advances key 2025 strategic priorities and continues its global search for a permanent CEO.

Saini brings more than three decades of international business leadership in the consumer goods industry, having held senior executive roles at The Fung Group and Nike. She also currently serves on the Boards of Global Fashion Agenda, PUMA, and Worldly, giving her deep insight into the opportunities and challenges facing the industry. After 25 years living and working in Asia, she is now based in the U.K.

“Harsh’s appointment ensures continuity during a critical phase of implementation,” said Tamar Hoek, Cascale Board Chair and Senior Policy Director Sustainable Fashion at Solidaridad. “She knows our organization well, understands the landscape, and brings both strategic vision and operational insight. We’re confident she will support the team and help accelerate our work on climate and decent work.”

Saini steps into the role at a pivotal moment for Cascale, as the organization sharpens its focus on execution, building on the foundation laid in 2024 to drive measurable, collaborative progress across the global consumer goods value chain. With a strong international team, deepening member engagement, and renewed ambition to scale unified impact, Cascale is well-positioned to enter its next chapter of industry leadership and aligned action.

Press Releases / Cascale Expands Membership Engagement Team

Cascale Expands Membership Engagement Team

Leadership
Membership

Leadership appointments advance Cascale’s focus on more tailored, equitable member engagement and industry-wide collaboration.

Headshots of Alexandra Rieger and Joleen Ong, Cascale team members

January 31, 2025

Leadership appointments advance Cascale’s focus on more tailored, equitable member engagement and industry-wide collaboration.

Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – January 31, 2024: As part of the ongoing evolution of its member engagement and governance model, Cascale has expanded its membership engagement team to include Alexandra Rieger, senior director, manufacturer membership, and Joleen Ong, senior director, brand & retailer membership. This new structure reflects Cascale’s commitment to enhancing member engagement through a more tailored and equitable approach to serving the needs of its diverse membership. Alexandra Rieger and Joleen Ong bring extensive expertise in sustainability, supply chain dynamics, and human rights, and their appointments strengthen Cascale’s capacity to deliver meaningful support to members and drive impactful outcomes across the value chain.

The shift demonstrates Cascale’s ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and inclusive decision-making for all members, further elevating supplier and manufacturer voices while maintaining robust support for brand and retailer, and affiliate members. By fostering equitable partnerships and balancing the diverse needs of all stakeholders, Cascale is better positioned than ever to lead the consumer goods industry toward collaboration, regulatory alignment, and sustainability goals.

Andrew Martin, executive vice president at Cascale, commented, “We’re so excited to welcome Alexandra and Joleen to the Cascale team as we strengthen our commitment to more tailored and equitable member engagement. Their leadership will bring fresh perspectives, deepen our collaboration with members, and help us address the complex challenges facing the industry. With their vast experience and depth of expertise, Cascale is better positioned to empower members and advance meaningful progress across sustainability, innovation, and equitable partnership.”

Alexandra Rieger will oversee all aspects of manufacturer member engagement and impact, ensuring manufacturers are empowered with tools, resources, and support to drive industry transformation. She has cultivated over 20 years in global sourcing and supply chain leadership roles across the industry, leading manufacturers and brands like Brandix, MAS, Triumph, Gildan, and Levi Strauss.

“Joining Cascale represents an incredible opportunity to work alongside a vast membership base to advance sustainability and innovation across the value chain,” said Alexandra Rieger, senior director, manufacturer membership at Cascale. “Each supply chain has the potential to create value and an urgent responsibility to address the challenges facing the planet and its people. I’m excited to engage with manufacturers to amplify their voices, empower their contributions, and collectively drive meaningful change—particularly in areas like decarbonization and responsible sourcing. Together, we can orchestrate solutions that balance complexity, innovation, and impact.”

Joleen Ong will lead all aspects of brand & retailer member engagement, helping members drive sustainability impact through the use of Cascale’s Higg Index tools and programs. She brings over 15 years of experience in sustainability and human rights within the apparel and footwear industries and has extensive expertise in operationalizing the Higg Index tools across brands. She previously served as the sustainability director at Fanatics, where she led the integration of sustainability practices and responsible purchasing initiatives across the enterprise, and led the sustainable manufacturing and licensing programs at Columbia Sportswear Company.

Joleen Ong, senior director, brand & retailer membership at Cascale shared, “I’m honored to join Cascale and work alongside such a dedicated team committed to driving collective action across the apparel and consumer goods industry. By equipping brands and retailers with the tools and resources needed to combat climate change and support decent work for all, we have an incredible opportunity to create meaningful change at scale. I’m eager to leverage my experience at two Cascale member brands to build robust, inclusive listening channels and partner effectively with our members on this crucial journey toward a more sustainable future.”

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 most comprehensive sustainability data and 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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News Updates / At AAFA Vietnam, Cascale CEO Colin Browne Calls on Leaders for Proactive, Disruptive Sustainability Leadership

At AAFA Vietnam, Cascale CEO Colin Browne Calls on Leaders for Proactive, Disruptive Sustainability Leadership

Industry Event
Leadership

December 24, 2024

Colin Browne, CEO of Cascale, recently addressed the International Apparel & Footwear Compliance Conference in Vietnam, hosted by the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA).

Colin Browne, CEO of Cascale, recently addressed the International Apparel & Footwear Compliance Conference in Vietnam, hosted by the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). The event brought together industry leaders to deepen their understanding of U.S. compliance requirements and brand expectations for factories.

In his keynote, Browne tackled the pressing challenges of compliance and climate urgency, calling for a proactive industry approach as global legislation increasingly shifts from voluntary to mandatory requirements. He outlined Cascale’s commitment to supporting sustainable supply chains, highlighting the Higg Index suite of tools, used by over 40,000 companies to measure and improve their sustainability impacts.

Drawing from his extensive background in procurement at Under Armour, VF, and Li & Fung, Browne shared firsthand insights into supply chain impacts. He emphasized the need for leadership and disruption to guide the industry through an evolving global landscape shaped by recent and upcoming elections in key markets such as India, Pakistan, the U.S., and the U.K. He praised Cascale’s partnerships with organizations like AAFA in the U.S. and Policy Hub in the EU, which drive collective advocacy on policy issues critical to the industry’s future.

Browne commended the industry’s innovation and collaboration while underscoring Cascale’s role in driving collective action. He spotlighted the work of Cascale’s Policy & Public Affairs team, which collaborates with organizations like AAFA and Policy Hub to advocate for industry-wide positions and engage in policy discussions.

Browne emphasized Vietnam’s strategic role in global apparel exports, noting the presence of Cascale members such as the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). He then highlighted Cascale’s local engagement, including an APAC Manufacturer Interview Group designed to amplify manufacturers’ voices in global policy discussions. He also announced plans for an APAC-focused policy paper and previewed the upcoming Cascale Forum in Ho Chi Minh City, set for May 14–15, 2025.

Closing his address, Browne urged the audience to ramp up decarbonization efforts, stressing the need for urgent action to address climate challenges while building resilient, sustainable supply chains.

News Updates / Cascale CEO Colin Browne Urges Leaders to Commit to Bold Action to Achieve Industry Climate Goals

Cascale CEO Colin Browne Urges Leaders to Commit to Bold Action to Achieve Industry Climate Goals

Leadership

Two men wearing hard hats reviewing documents in a factory setting

November 29, 2024

Colin Browne, Cascale CEO, delivered a recorded keynote speech at the recent Procurement Success Summit (PSS) in Shanghai, China.

Founded in 2014, the Procurement Success Summit is recognized as the most influential procurement event in the Asia-Pacific region, serving the world’s leading procurement and industry innovation leaders.

Browne shared an overview of Cascale and the Higg Index suite of tools, which help more than 40,000 users measure their sustainability impact. He highlighted his background in procurement at companies such as Under Armour, VF, and Li&Fung, where he witnessed first hand the tangible impact that sourcing decisions have on the environment, which was a key factor in his decision to join Cascale.

Emphasizing that the consumer goods industry struggles with outdated sustainability approaches, Browne detailed how fragmented efforts and outdated practices have become untenable. He stressed the importance of committing to bold, unified action to achieve climate goals and overcome sustainability challenges. Browne shared that the fashion industry is not on track to meet its 45 percent emissions reduction target, and highlighted data from the Higg Index which shows it is currently producing more than 2.5 times the emissions required in order to meet the 45 percent reduction target by 2030.

Browne went on to share an overview of Cascale’s membership, highlighting that 33 percent of brands and 54 percent of manufacturers have yet to set science-based targets (SBTs). He emphasized the need for change and urged brands and suppliers to work together to transform their downstream supply base, which is the single most important source of carbon emissions. He shared insights from a recent RESET Carbon analysis that utilized Higg Index data on 14,000+ facilities to reveal that 1,500 facilities account for 80 percent of carbon emissions.

Highlighting the need for more strategic and targeted approaches, Browne encouraged facilities and brands to shift from spreading resources thinly across numerous projects to focusing on key areas of opportunity. He called for greater alignment across the industry to achieve meaningful progress, which depends on uniting brands, manufacturers, and stakeholders around shared objectives and ensuring that every voice at the table is heard and valued.

Browne emphasized Cascale’s evolution from a facilitator to a leader, with a commitment to ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice in shaping our collective future. He emphasized Cascale’s role in driving the industry towards unified action on climate and decent work conditions. Browne concluded his speech by urging delegates to step up to collaborate on accelerating collective action at scale to drive meaningful change.

Blogs / Lena Staafgard on System Transformation through Cotton Sustainability

Lena Staafgard on System Transformation through Cotton Sustainability

Leadership

As part of a recurring series, Cascale details the involvement and vision of its Board members. Here, Lena Staafgard, Chief Operating Officer, Better Cotton, details the need for greater connectivity between Cascale members and fibers like cotton.

November 22, 2024

As part of a recurring series, Cascale details the involvement and vision of its Board members. Here, Lena Staafgard, Chief Operating Officer, Better Cotton, details the need for greater connectivity between Cascale members and fibers like cotton.

Cascale: How long have you been involved with Cascale?

Lena Staafgard: Better Cotton has been a member for several years, and I have been on the board for two terms now, so coming up on three and a half years of engagement with the board.

Cascale: What prompted you to join and increase your involvement on the Board?

L.S.: At Better Cotton, we work on system transformation, and we have a very clear focus on cotton as one of the most-used natural fibers in the world. What attracted me to Cascale was the even broader system transformation, and I felt, after a good 10 years at Better Cotton, I had a lot to share and contribute to Cascale’s journey of working effectively across many countries and many stakeholders and many interests to mobilize enthusiasm for deep change. For me, this was a super exciting opportunity, and I’m very pleased to have been elected.

Cascale: How do you define systems change?

L.S.: So system change requires a lot of goodwill and a lot of true commitment from all the players involved. I think it also requires a lot of patience, willingness to hear uncomfortable truths and be uncomfortable. It requires a lot of time and compromise, because you need to find the path forward that works for everyone. It’s not necessarily the top choice, especially if you would prefer your own needs and preferences, but it’s the path forward that works for everyone. I strongly believe only when everyone buys into the process and is willing to go down the route – that’s when you will see change happening.

Cascale: Outside of your career, where do you find motivation?

L.S.: Well, I’m a traveler, so I’m lucky to have a job that takes me traveling. Growing up, I never actually thought I’d have a proper job. I felt I would just roam the world and do various odd jobs. Here I find myself many years later with a proper job creating real change. I still have my travel, so that’s lovely. I get a lot of energy from it and my family brings me a lot of joy as well. It comes down to traveling, connecting with others, gaining new experiences and new lessons, and learning new things and seeing things in a way that I may not have seen before. That’s really driving me, and I think I’m getting that both from Better Cotton and from Cascale.

Cascale: What recent memory or visit taught you something?

L.S.: Just last week, I was in Benin in West Africa. It’s the first time I visited Benin. So that was the personal experience. But being there on World Cotton Day, we were celebrating the public good that cotton is – looking at how it not only provides fiber for our clothes and our bed linen and home textiles, but also livelihoods, income to people, and it, of course, has a very important role to play in climate change mitigation. Coming to Benin and seeing the enthusiasm from the top-level of government for cotton – as a critical commodity for the country and for the country’s well being – was amazing. I was very impressed by the organizers in Benin, and with representatives from governments all across West Africa and Central Africa and beyond. They also took me on a trip to visit an industrial park, so they’re investing quite heavily in making sure that cotton adds even more value to the Benin economy, and they’re building and investing in a massive industrial park to start manufacturing in Benin and create more value by creating new jobs. It was really state of the art. The facilities are super modern with all the health and safety protocols in place. It was clean, well air-conditioned, and overall impressive to see the commitment to the textile industry of the whole country.

Cascale: What has been the biggest challenge in staying the sustainability course?

L.S.: I find one of the biggest challenges is to push for scale. It can be very easy to get small projects, pilots, and demonstrations off the ground or to fund one model factory. But it’s a real challenge to say, “This needs to happen everywhere.” We need to have improvements across the board in factories and in working conditions. We need to see improvements across the board for all cotton production. That’s not cheap. It requires investment. I think within Better Cotton, as with Cascale, our members know that the cost of not acting is ultimately going to be higher than the cost of taking action. It’s still super difficult to get through the drama of the day, and the challenges of today to get proper investments for the long term benefit of the benefit of the industry.

Cascale: Can you share more about Better Cotton’s involvement and use of the HIgg Index?

L.S.: It’s been a perfect opportunity on LCAs with the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) to actually pull together our resources. At Better Cotton, historically, we’ve not published LCAs. Better Cotton comes from so many different countries. It’s grown by smallholders, by large farms in India, Southern Africa, and the U.S., where the footprint would be very different because the environment is different. So we haven’t been able to find a good LCA methodology or a good LCA context that would tell a true story about Better Cotton. I’m super pleased that through the membership we have with Cascale that we’ve worked with your team and with other cotton standards to utilize the data available, the approaches available, and then make sure that we move together forward, and not one on one, not that we have different LCA for every cotton grown right, for conventional, organic, for Better Cotton, but that we align on the methodology and the data that we’re using, so that we all speak the same language. It’s also a great use of resources that we’re pooling together. Ultimately, I believe, by organizations such as ours working together, we make it easier for the whole industry to move forward on this transformation journey. I think that’s been a really rewarding and long process. Here we are, three years later, and we’re ready to make the updates to the Higg MSI and have a cotton module that we all align on.

Cascale: Where do you see more room for growth and improvement, perhaps in cotton, or broader apparel?

L.S.: I think for Cascale, I’m really looking forward to working with Colin [Browne] and the whole team on some of the core principles for Cascale, and that’s the multi-stakeholder principles, ensuring that the affiliate members and the manufacturer members and the retailer and brand members come together on equal terms.

I think it’s only together that we can really come up with the great solutions that will work and that will have traction. I know in the past, there’s been some imbalances, and it’s challenging because we’re working in the industry where we have pre-established power relationships, and I think it’s on Cascale, and I can feel a real desire within the team to challenge that and make sure that we are moving forward on equal terms as partners on the journey. We’re on a similar track in Better Cotton, making sure that the farmer has a seat at the table, an equal voice, and an equal say in determining the route forward, as far as priorities and how we drum up the support and the investment to make things happen.

News Updates / Cascale’s Colin Browne Urges Leaders into Action at Global Enterprise Executive Leadership Forum

Cascale’s Colin Browne Urges Leaders into Action at Global Enterprise Executive Leadership Forum

Leadership

At the Executive Leadership Forum in Panama City, Cascale CEO Colin Browne outlined Cascale’s journey from industry convener to leader in sustainability, emphasizing the need for unified action on ESG supply chain integration, mandatory sustainability disclosures, and impactful collaboration to address climate and labor challenges.

Back view of male with rucksack standing on coast in front of mountains

November 14, 2024

Earlier this fall, Colin Browne, Cascale CEO, spoke at the Executive Leadership Forum hosted by the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) in Panama City.

The Center for Global Enterprise was established to help educate societal stakeholders on the globally integrated economy and its promise for a better future. It convenes leaders worldwide and advances enterprise transformation through applied research. In addition to Browne, speakers at the Executive Leadership Forum included Dr. Ernesto Perez Ballardes, former president of Panama, along with session leaders Mario Perez Balladares, chairman, Narval, and Marko Kovacevic, managing director, Digital Supply Chain Institute.

The CGE facilitates several distinct programs, including the Digital Supply Chain Institute, a leading-edge research institute focused on the evolution of enterprise supply chains in the digital economy and the creation and practical application of supply chain management best practices. Browne’s presentation was focused on setting priorities and measuring results for ESG supply chain integration, as customer expectations and regulatory environments evolve. He started off by giving an overview of Cascale’s origins, which began with a simple but ambitious vision to convene stakeholders across the industry on a pre-competitive basis to develop a common approach to measuring sustainability. Browne highlighted Cascale’s commitment to giving back more than it takes, both for people and the planet. He emphasized the diversity of Cascale’s membership, which spans apparel, footwear, home furnishings, sporting goods, and bags and luggage brands and manufacturers.

Browne also shared how the organization has evolved from unifying the industry, to fostering tool adoption and strategic partnerships, and finally to finding new avenues for scaling impact. He went on to give an overview of the legislative landscape and noted the increasing shift towards mandatory sustainability disclosure away from voluntary disclosure. He shared how governments around the world are increasingly introducing legislation that requires companies to disclose their sustainability-related information, driving greater transparency and accountability.

Finally, he emphasized how Cascale is evolving from a facilitator to a leader, with a commitment to equality of voice, highlighting the organization’s dedication to ensuring stakeholders have a voice in shaping their collective future. He emphasized the importance of leadership in driving the industry towards unified action against key challenges like climate impact and decent work conditions. Browne concluded his presentation by urging attendees to step up their efforts to collaborate on accelerating collective action at scale to drive meaningful change.