Cascale’s Manufacturer Climate Action Program supports path to validated targets representing 1.6 million metric tons of CO2e reduction potential in 19 countries with support of sponsor brands including Gap Inc, New Balance, and PUMA
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – June 18, 2026: Addressing climate change requires more than ambition — it requires measurable action. Cascale today released the Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) Annual Impact Report 2025, highlighting significant progress by manufacturers, suppliers, and brands working together to accelerate decarbonization across the global value chain.
“I’m extremely proud that MCAP has achieved a significant milestone in its evolution into a scaled industry decarbonization program participated by 85 manufacturer groups across 19 countries. This structural and pragmatic approach, which enables manufacturers not only in setting science aligned targets as the start, catalyzes a shift from commitment to implementation across the manufacturing community; to achieve it, all manufacturers have a multi-year actionable decarbonization plan which contains available levers to deliver ongoing emissions reductions. During the past 12 months, MCAP strategic council members have played a critical role in shaping the program; we deeply appreciate the time, expertise, and commitment contributed by them whose collaborative leadership has played a critical role in advancing the program delivery and impact. The progress we are seeing today reflects the power of structured collaboration, shared accountability, and practical tools that enable manufacturers to act at scale.” – Joyce Tsoi, senior director, decarbonization program, Cascale
Key Takeaways
MCAP supports manufacturers and suppliers with a practical pathway to measure emissions, set science-aligned targets (SATs) for scope 1 and 2 emissions, assess climate risks, and develop actionable decarbonization plans. In May 2025, the multi-stakeholder MCAP Strategic Council was established and provided strong programmatic governance to ensure all programmatic activities align with its strategic objectives and goals, ensure performance monitoring and accountability, and ensure it continues to deliver value.
To date, 85 manufacturers and eight sponsoring brands have been engaged through MCAP across 446 participating facilities in 19 countries. A full 52 science-aligned targets are now validated, representing more than 1.6 million metric tons of CO2e reduction potential. Finally, 33 climate risk assessments were completed to strengthen long-term resilience planning, and 43 decarbonization plans are currently in development. The report underscores the program’s ability to translate climate commitments into measurable outcomes.
Manufacturer Focus
The program combines technical support, training, third-party validation, and peer engagement to help manufacturers move from planning to implementation. Cascale hosts monthly office hours and ongoing training sessions in both English and Chinese. Through MCAP’s peer-learning community, manufacturers have gained access to practical knowledge, shared experiences, and real-world solutions from others facing similar challenges.
“We joined MCAP with strong ESG capabilities but faced challenges coordinating climate action across multiple overseas manufacturing sites. MCAP’s structured target-setting process enabled us to establish a science-based reduction strategy while unifying our international facilities under a cohesive decarbonization framework. MCAP has been a critical turning point for Nobland, enabling us to move from intention to execution.” – Jay Kim, ESG team leader, Nobland
“The MCAP Climate Risk Assessment will be extremely valuable to our long-term planning as we take preventative action to reduce heat and maintain productivity. This is now part of our ongoing resilience strategy.” – Cherry Liu, QA manager, My Nga Trade
“Martex Group joined MCAP with a strong base of energy data, but we needed a clearer framework to turn this information into measurable climate targets. Joining MCAP has been a significant opportunity for our company, creating the structure we needed to move from data collection to a clear, actionable decarbonization strategy.” – Akila Lakshan, assistant manager sustainability, Martex Group
Brand Engagement
MCAP supports brands in sponsoring manufacturers to address Scope 3 emissions, which often represent the majority of a brand’s carbon footprint. Sponsorship is not philanthropy — it is the most direct route a brand has to the supplier capability its own targets depend on. The value runs in both directions: Manufacturers achieve structure, credibility, and the ability to act, while brands gain supplier transparency, aligned progress against a shared standard, and concrete evidence of Scope 3 action they can share with regulators and investors.
“Gap Inc. has been engaged with MCAP since the program’s inception. We have seen firsthand how MCAP has strengthened collaboration with our suppliers and deepened strategic partnerships that are essential to driving progress.” – Sally Gilligan, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Gap Inc
“MCAP has played an important role in turning climate commitments into practical progress. We—and our suppliers–have learned a great deal through the program and seen valuable outcomes tied to goals and aligned action plans. By providing structure to the decarbonization journey, MCAP has helped participating facilities better understand and plan their path forward.” – Tony Hung, Manager, Supply Chain Sustainability, New Balance ”
“MCAP equips our suppliers with the tools, structure, and clear pathway needed to take meaningful action on decarbonization and continue advancing their sustainability journey. We’ve seen encouraging growth in participating manufacturers from the beginning to the end of the program — a journey that has been both motivating and impactful. We appreciate Cascale’s active engagement and the support provided throughout the process.” – Mia Gunawan, director of environmental sustainability, PUMA
Looking Ahead
As of April 2026, all 52 graduates from Cohorts 1 and 2 have successfully completed the 18-month program with a validated science-aligned target. This 100 percent validation rate stands as direct evidence of the program’s impact, demonstrating how MCAP translates intent into measurable action.
Cascale will launch two new MCAP cohorts this year. The organization is also developing post-MCAP programming to extend the manufacturer-brand partnership and support ongoing target tracking and emissions reduction.
Brands, manufacturers, and suppliers interested in learning more about MCAP can register for an upcoming information session through Cascale’s website. For additional information, contact mcap@cascale.org.
Media Contact: Forster Communications, cascaleforster@forster.co.uk
ABOUT CASCALE
Cascale is the global nonprofit alliance driving systemic transformation to combat climate change and support decent work in the consumer goods industry. Formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Cascale unites a diverse, worldwide ecosystem of over 300 retailer, brand, manufacturer, supplier, service provider, government, academic, and nonprofit members.
Our alliance catalyzes pre-competitive collaboration for maximum impact, anchored by our stewardship of the Higg Index frameworks — implemented through the Worldly technology platform — and recent acquisition of the Better Buying and Sustainable Furnishings Council tools. While these methodologies are central to our work, they are part of a broader strategy to mobilize collective action, challenge industry norms, and build an industry that gives back more than it takes to the planet and its people.
In this guest blog, Shein Han, director, compliance and sustainability, GG International Manufacturing, describes why manufacturers need the right financial incentives to decarbonize effectively.
The question comes up again and again: What should governments and industry stakeholders prioritize first for decarbonization?
As a fashion manufacturer based in Seoul, South Korea, I see how policy, financing, and implementation challenges come together in real time. In the APAC region, each country is taking a unique approach to a greener economy. These are encouraging signals, but manufacturers across the region are still facing major barriers to action.
As an Editorial Member of Cascale’s APAC Policy Member Expert Team, contributing specifically to the incentives agenda, I see a number of overlapping challenges. Fragmentation, limited interoperability, insufficient incentives, and underrepresentation of decent work issues – Cascale’s recent APAC Policy Priorities paper captures all of these issues.
Amid competing customer demands and faster turnaround times, there is little leeway for manufacturers to invest the time, energy, or resources to decarbonize their facilities. The reality is that decarbonization is simply too expensive for APAC manufacturers, especially SMEs, to tackle alone. For many SMEs, decarbonization is not a strategic choice but a financial constraint, where even well-intentioned efforts are limited by access to capital. That is exactly why incentives are critical.
Decarbonization is not a willingness issue. It is a financing issue.
Without a support mechanism such as loans or blended financing, companies cannot invest in renewable energy or low-carbon equipment.
This is one of the reasons why decarbonization incentives are a key priority in the APAC Policy Priorities Paper. The paper recognizes that many suppliers and SMEs face significant barriers due to high costs and limited access to finance, and calls for targeted support mechanisms, including subsidies, preferential financing, and investment in renewable energy and low-carbon technologies. The stated goal is to make the transition more practical, more scalable, and more inclusive across the supply chain.
Also, most decarbonization efforts today are still project-based. What we need is a system-based approach across the supply chain from now on. This is why we need to invest in expanding infrastructure, more coordinated support, and policy conditions that help solutions scale.
Incentives are also very critical. However, incentives without execution or without reliable data or without verified data are not enough on their own. We need a clear implementation framework to scale the incentives.
If I had to choose one action item for decarbonization, it would be linking financial incentives directly to the verified data. This could include preferential financing for facilities with verified emissions data, tax incentives tied to measurable reductions, or blended finance mechanisms that reduce upfront capital investment for renewable energy adoption. For example, factories with verified Scope 1 and 2 emissions data could access preferential financing rates or performance-based incentives tied to demonstrated reductions. This creates both accountability and motivation. Without such incentive mechanisms, scaling will be difficult.
If we want decarbonization to move faster across APAC, we need policies and financing approaches that reflect how manufacturers actually operate. That starts with making support accessible, practical, and tied to real progress.
Curious to learn more? Explore the full APAC Policy Priorities Paper and, for members, continue the conversation through the recent webinar featuring insights from APAC Policy MET members.
Explore how factory leaders are driving real sustainability progress through data, innovation, and collaboration in Lee Green’s latest blog.
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.
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.
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.
This Cascale Better Buying report for SLCP showcases how Better Buying data informs a Win-Win Sustainable Partnership, highlighting factors such as audit harmonization. Audit harmonization is a top priority among partners such as Better Buying and the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP).
Explore key insights from in-depth interviews with 12 global manufacturers, revealing their sustainability priorities, traceability challenges, and calls for shared accountability.
When you take the time to listen — really listen — to manufacturers working across the global consumer goods supply chain, you begin to understand the full complexity of challenges manufacturers are up against.
Over several months, Cascale, together with the International Apparel Federation (IAF), co-led the Manufacturer Interview Group, a joint project launched in November 2024 focused on elevating the voices of global consumer goods manufacturers in sustainability policy and traceability. Through a series of in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 12 global manufacturers across regions, we listened closely to their priorities, challenges, and ideas for change. These were not surveys nor short meetings. They were open, thoughtful conversations about what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to evolve.
Today, we’re sharing that perspective in the Manufacturer Interview Group Insights & Summary, which brings together the priorities and lived experiences that manufacturers so generously shared with us.
The Manufacturer Interview Group, led by Cascale and IAF, amplifies manufacturers’ voices by gathering their perspectives on regulatory challenges, ESG traceability, and policy needs.
Across every interview, one message came through clearly: manufacturers want to be part of the solution. They are committed to sustainability — but they’re under increasing pressure, often without the clarity or support they need to meet expectations.
Through the Manufacturer Interview Group, many suppliers shared that they are already familiar with major global sustainability regulations. But it’s yet another story to implement those regulations day-to-day — across different countries, legal frameworks, and production environments.
Access to renewable energy remains limited in some regions. In others, wage laws, labor requirements, and infrastructure vary dramatically. At the same time that manufacturers are pleading for shared accountability and investment, brands are calling for faster decarbonization timelines, with limited support on the ground.
The insights shared in the Summary & Insights PDF are urgent reminders of the gap between global sustainability ambitions and on-the-ground operational realities. Manufacturers are clearly prioritizing sustainability, but too often, they’re doing so without the necessary resources or meaningful involvement to shape the decisions that impact them most. What they’re asking for now is partnership and shared accountability: practical, fair, and collaborative support to help scale the solutions being built. Because at the end of the day, it’s their communities, their livelihoods, and their businesses more fully at stake in known climate-related severe weather regions.
For many manufacturers, traceability may already be part of their daily operations. On top of managing their own facility-level data and insights, they receive loads of ESG data requests from buyer companies. These data-driven processes are ultimately woven into how they manage compliance and measure impact. But in practice, traceability often feels like a one-way street: too focused on data extraction by buyers, and not enough on shared understanding on what that data means, and actionable insights to take.
In our conversations, manufacturers described the difficulty of juggling data requests across multiple SaaS (Software as a Service) traceability and supply chain management platforms. Regularly, they are responding to ad-hoc duplicative requests for similar data, and juggling inconsistent formats and timelines. Small ESG teams are spending significant time on manual updates and software retraining, just to keep up. All at the expense of time allocated to sustainability interventions in practice.
Manufacturers are calling for more effective systems: tools, like the Higg Index – Facility Environmental Module (FEM), that aim to reduce duplication, frameworks that create clarity, and long-term collaboration that enables smarter use of data across the value chain.
Based on these conversations with manufacturers, we’ve distilled a number of potential solutions that could help mitigate administrative burdens and unlock meaningful change.
1) “Data Pool” Concept
Manufacturers take a stance to create their own proprietary ESG depository systems (data pool concept), uploading data once and demanding all buyer requests to be pulled from that system. Today, many manufacturers support the development of a data pool concept which would be governed by a neutral party to help centralize ESG data and reduce duplicative buyer requests.
2) System Integrations
Incumbent traceability/ESG data management platforms come together to agree on economically feasible integrations and data-sharing models. By putting commercial sensitivities aside, stakeholders can streamline data exchange and allow manufacturers to focus on sustainability improvements in practice, rather than constantly juggling burdensome administrative requests.
3) Audit and Assessment Harmonization
The industry should work toward harmonizing audit and assessment practices to reduce duplication, lower costs, and improve the efficiency and credibility of supply chain oversight. This includes developing an audit equivalency framework that allows for mutual recognition of audits conducted under different but comparable standards, as well as aligning audit cycles to reduce the burden on facilities.
4) Standardized Supply Chain Definitions
The industry should refer to a mutually agreed-upon, uniform taxonomy of supply chain terms. This allows for consistent interpretation, reporting, and communication across manufacturers, brands, and auditors. This is especially important as regulations like the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) increasingly require companies to disclose facility and product information using clearly defined and standardized terminology.
Overall, these concepts and terms fall under the need for a Common Response Framework by Manufacturers to create alignment. Overall, manufacturers expressed a need for alignment and transparency. Their quotes are anonymized for the sanctity of the group’s open expression.
One interviewee said, “Brands and manufacturers should stay transparent about the real challenges faced on the ground in factories and prioritizing workers, taking a longer-term view that includes what the direct impacts are for facilities when brands try to roll out plans for compliance.”
Another added, “To discuss with brands what their expectations are to ensure those are actually aligned with regulatory requirements and then compare that to the current state of affairs at facilities. Longer-term partnerships with brands where costs of sustainability are shared.”
Still, another explained the reality of implementation. “Compliance is what you do to stay along with the law. Sustainability is implementing best practice. So we try to implement best practice, which hopefully a majority of it covers.”
In addition to sharing challenges, manufacturers brought forward-looking ideas for how the system could work better. Manufacturers urged policymakers to involve them early on in the legislative process, so implementation and expectations align with their complex supply chain realities. Many spoke about the need for more consistent approaches to ESG data management—ways to reduce duplication, clarify expectations, and strengthen trust across the value chain. Along that line of thinking, several interviewees affirmed their support of a centralized data pool so that verified ESG data could be securely accessed by multiple buyers, reducing the need for repetitive reporting.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But what these ideas represent is a desire for greater coordination and shared responsibility. Manufacturers want to be part of designing what comes next—and they’re ready to help build it, if the industry is willing to listen.
This Manufacturer Interview Group was designed for active listening and honest reflections. What we heard was clear: 12 participating manufacturers from the U.S., the EU and the Asia-Pacific regions are already advancing sustainability across legislation, traceability, and operations. But they shouldn’t have to do it alone.
Sustainability must be a shared responsibility, in the belief of both Cascale and IAF. Costs, time, and outcomes must be equitably distributed between manufacturers and their brand partners.
That’s why this work matters. And it’s why Cascale and IAF remain committed to championing manufacturer voices—not only in reports, but in the real decisions shaping our shared future. Together, we will continue to:
This work is ongoing—and it’s only just begun. The manufacturers we spoke to were thoughtful, clear, and forward-looking. They asked for practical, collaborative, and fair solutions. We’re proud to stand with them in that effort.
The Manufacturer Interview Group, led by Cascale and International Apparel Federation (IAF), amplifies manufacturers’ voices by gathering their perspectives on regulatory challenges, ESG traceability, and policy needs. The initiative promotes collaborative solutions to strengthen data management, streamline compliance, and advocate for fair, practical legislation across the supply chain.
Joyce Tsoi, senior director of the Decarbonization Program at Cascale, recently presented at the virtual Komar Supply Chain Sustainability Forums in Vietnam and Cambodia.
The event brought together Komar Brands’ Tier 1 and 2 suppliers and featured presentations from industry experts on supplier best practices and brainstorming sessions on environmental and product sustainability initiatives.
Tsoi kicked off her presentation by giving an overview of Cascale’s origins and its vision to convene stakeholders across the industry on a pre-competitive basis to develop a common approach to measuring sustainability. After an overview of Cascale’s growth in membership and evolution, Tsoi highlighted Cascale’s strategic pillars — Combat Climate Change and Support Decent Work for All — as critical to the organization’s renewed focus.
Decarbonization remains a critical focus for the industry. In Vietnam and Cambodia alone, we’ve seen only 27 companies committed to set science-based targets (SBTs), and out of those, 12 companies have validated targets from the apparel, footwear, and textile sector. From Higg FEM data insight, we need to continue to strive for significant actions in South East Asia. Without significant actions and progress, the economic, environmental, and social impacts will continue to escalate.
Tsoi shared Cascale’s efforts to combat climate change and accelerate industry-wide decarbonization through the new Industry Decarbonization Roadmap (IDR), developed in partnership with Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) and with the support of RESET Carbon. She noted how science-based targets (SBTs) and science-aligned targets (SATs) provided a focused first step for companies embarking on their decarbonization journey, complementing the broader IDR roadmap. IDR is a bold, industry-wide initiative to tackle supply chain emissions at scale, aiming to decarbonize global manufacturing from tier 1 finished production assembly, tier 2 material production to tier 3 raw material processing facilities.
Central to IDR, Tsoi highlighted the Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) framework and how Cascale works with manufacturers to commit and set SATs for validation, evaluate their climate risks, develop a decarbonization plan, and communicate progress with stakeholders. She detailed the program’s benefits, including peer-to-peer learning, best practice sharing in the industry, as well as technical advisory support, training, and guidance. She shared how capacity-building programs – such as MCAP – enable knowledge and skills to be scaled to support manufacturers step-by-step in their target-setting process to support developing their decarbonization plan.
In tandem, Tsoi emphasized the importance of leveraging tools such as the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) in establishing a firm environmental foundation for effective action. With this accurate energy and carbon baseline measurement, companies can determine their focus on tangible energy and carbon reduction opportunities, develop an action plan to take necessary actions, and achieve meaningful progress. Delving deeper into the Higg FEM, Tsoi shared key insights on its adoption in facilities in Vietnam and Cambodia, which showed a significant growth, with more facilities recognizing the Higg FEM as a core tool for measuring environmental performance.
Lastly, she noted the critical value of responsible purchasing practices in moving the industry forward, highlighting Cascale’s recent purchase of key assets of Better Buying Institute (BBI) as a testament of its commitment to advance responsible purchasing practices across the consumer goods industry.
Tsoi concluded her presentation by inviting attendees to register for the Cascale Forum, which will take place May 14-15 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The two-day event will bring together manufacturers, suppliers, brands, retailers, and key industry stakeholders to drive actionable solutions for decarbonization, environmental performance, responsible purchasing practices, and audit fatigue.
Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) helps manufacturers to set credible climate targets aligned with science
Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) helps manufacturers to set credible climate targets aligned with science
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – March 25, 2025: Cascale’s Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP), a vital initiative that supports manufacturers globally to begin their decarbonization journey to set Scope 1 and 2 emission reduction targets emissions, will broaden its reach to welcome new participants in 2025. MCAP is expanding this year with two new cohorts, offering more manufacturers – both Cascale members and non-members – the opportunity to advance their multi-year decarbonization efforts.
Launched in 2024, the 18-month program offers a focused first step for manufacturers looking to build their decarbonization journey. MCAP complements the Industry Decarbonization Roadmap (IDR), developed by Cascale and Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) as a comprehensive approach to drive measurable progress on decarbonization. Under Cascale’s “Combat Climate Change” pillar, these programs aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the global consumer goods industry by 45 percent by 2030.
MCAP’s first two cohorts included 58 manufacturers and seven nominating brands, working together to develop and set Science-Aligned Targets (SATs)—clear, credible goals aligned with global climate science. All 18 participants from MCAP’s first cohort have successfully submitted their targets for validation, representing a significant milestone for the program. Once validated, these targets will be publicly showcased on the MCAP disclosure dashboard, aligning with transparency practices of leading frameworks like Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
“Sustainability is at the heart of ITL Group’s operations,” said Jimmy Christopher, SVP Group Sustainability and Innovation, ITL Group. “Through MCAP, we received invaluable guidance and a clear roadmap, allowing us to confidently validate our climate targets. The collaborative approach made the process smooth and effective. We’re proud to support MCAP’s vital work in driving meaningful climate action across the fashion value chain.”
Through MCAP, manufacturers are trained to develop their GHG inventory, identify high emission facilities in their operations, set SATs, and connect with like-minded organizations. MCAP participants benefit from expert-led training in climate risk assessment, providing an opportunity for manufacturers to identify risks based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios.
“Supported by PwC, we conducted the physical climate risk training to share common climate risks and mitigation strategies,” said Joyce Tsoi, Sr. Director, Decarbonization Program at Cascale. “Recognized as best practice by leading global frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the CDP, and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), many jurisdictions are requiring organizations to disclose their climate-related risks. We’re pleased that more than half of participating manufacturers are undergoing a climate risk assessment after the training sessions.”
With a commitment to credibility, MCAP collaborates with third-party validators and aligns with the SBTi framework, incorporating the latest IPCC science. MCAP is open to all manufacturers looking to start their decarbonization journey or wish to accelerate the adoption of science-aligned GHG reduction targets within their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Interested parties can learn more about the program in the next MCAP information session, or enroll directly. For more information, visit Cascale’s website.
Andrew Martin, executive vice president, Cascale participated in the inaugural global apparel factory summit hosted by Avery Dennison, a Cascale member at the forefront of sustainability and innovation.
Avery Dennison is a global materials science and digital identification solutions company that provides a wide range of branding and information solutions that optimize labor and supply chain efficiency, reduce waste, advance sustainability, circularity and transparency, and better connect brands and consumers. The event took place in Singapore in September and attendees included a select group of owners and CEOs of manufacturing facilities in Asia and Europe. Presentations and discussions centered around challenges in the supply chain, from traceability to circularity.
In a fireside chat, Martin began by sharing the main purpose of his attendance: to listen to the concerns and challenges of manufacturers—voices that need greater attention, especially in the context of traceability—and to explore how Cascale, in its role as a convener of the entire value chain, can support them. He examined how the supply chain must work together to unlock transparency and traceability. Both referenced data from Cascale’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) tool, which is exclusively available on Worldly. The Higg FEM is a transformative tool used to assess the environmental impact of product manufacturing at facilities, from water use to waste management, to chemical and energy use.
Martin’s presentation was especially relevant to attendees in showcasing how transformative Higg FEM data is for advancing facility improvements while reducing redundancy. He emphasized the value of the Higg Index tools in offering standardized approaches and highlighted Cascale’s crucial role in reducing duplication, increasing harmonization, and ensuring consistency, particularly in the context of data collection for traceability in response to upcoming regulations. Additional speakers included Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), among others.
Martin also shared learnings from Cascale members, noting that since much of the, legislation, —such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting & Due Diligence Directives (CSRD & CSDDD), Eco-Design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), and Digital Product Passport (DPP), and the US’s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA),—are still pending further clarification, and even aligned implementation, the focus of ESG data collection processes is still being focused just on compliance with specific data points. He emphasized however that the importance of the industry shifting towards traceability, that enables more effective due diligence, risk identification, and opportunities for and verification of ESG progress.
Martin emphasized the importance of making sustainability information transparent at the site level, a core component of traceability, defined as “the process of creating visibility of materials, products, and the information in which they were produced through the supply chain, to ensure the accountability of environmental and social progress.” He characterized the burden that traceability places on manufacturers as “irrational” and called for rapid collaboration on pragmatic interventions to harmonize the ESG data reporting landscape, standardizing supply chain data points, align data collection templates and questionnaires, and harmonizing data requests and verification cycles.
He also mentioned initiatives like Cascale’s decarbonization programs, including the Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP), inviting attendees to consider their involvement.
