Cascale Collaborates with Industry Leaders to Advance Climate Action and Support Brands on Their Sustainability Journey
Cascale Collaborates with Industry Leaders to Advance Climate Action and Support Brands on Their Sustainability Journey
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – December 20, 2024: Cascale, the global nonprofit alliance formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, announces its collaboration with FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE, an industry-leading initiative founded by ABOUT YOU Group, YOOX NET-A-PORTER, and Zalando in collaboration with Quantis. This joint effort aims to accelerate the adoption of science-based targets within the textile, apparel, and footwear industry and allows Cascale to better support its brand members in their sustainability and climate action journeys.
Launched in 2022, FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE is designed to elevate the fashion industry’s response to the inherent climate challenges it faces. It supports fashion brands to learn how to measure their own carbon footprints and set targets in line with climate science. Since 2022, over 85 percent of the brand partners that have participated reported an increase in their understanding of climate issues and science-based targets to reduce Scope 3 emissions.
Recognizing the vital role fashion retailers play in driving industry transformation, FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE’s co-founders have consistently focused on empowering brands, partners, and suppliers to accelerate their climate initiatives. Recently, ASOS, BOOZT, and Selfridges Group joined FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE as new members, extending the climate education program invitation to hundreds of fashion brands within their combined portfolio—further underscoring its growing impact.
Now, Cascale—uniting over 300 organizations across the global consumer goods industry—has joined forces with FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE to accelerate science-based target adoption and deepen its members’ learning journey. This collaboration offers an immersive eight-week education program with step-by-step guidance on measuring corporate carbon footprints and submitting science-based targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), reflecting a collective, industry-wide commitment to meaningful climate action. A pilot program, launched on October 28, 2024, marked the beginning of this enhanced educational support for Cascale members.
Colin Browne, chief executive officer at Cascale, commented, “The climate crisis is here, and fashion’s supply chain feels it every day. There’s no time to waste. That’s why we’re excited to partner with FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE to accelerate the adoption of science-based targets across the industry. The need for clear, measurable climate action has never been more urgent. By helping our brand and retailer members better understand and commit to these targets, we can make meaningful progress and drive the real, lasting change this moment demands.”
Cascale’s Decarbonization Program will benefit from the comprehensive educational offerings provided through FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE, further enhancing members’ capacity to reduce emissions. Since integrating SBTs into Cascale membership requirements in 2023, over 60 percent of Cascale corporate members have set or are actively working towards setting SBTs or science-aligned targets (SATs). Establishing these targets is critical to establishing effective decarbonization strategies and cutting emissions. Cascale’s collaboration with FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE serves as a key initiative in accelerating progress toward Cascale’s goal of 80 percent SBT or SAT adoption among its corporate members—including brands, retailers, holding groups, third-party retailers, and manufacturers—and reinforces the organization’s commitment to combating climate change.
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. LinkedIn | X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
ABOUT FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE
The FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE learning platform is fully sponsored by ABOUT YOU Group, YOOX NET-A-PORTER, and Zalando and curated by sustainability consultancy Quantis, a BCG company. Brand partners of ABOUT YOU Group, ASOS, BOOZT, YOOX NET-A-PORTER, Selfridges Group, and Zalando interested in learning how to measure greenhouse gas emissions, set targets aligned with climate science, and submit them to the SBTi, as well as retailers interested in accelerating the adoption of science-based targets among their brand partners, are invited to get in touch: info@fashionleapforclimate.com.
For further information on FASHION LEAP FOR CLIMATE, visit: https://fashionleapforclimate.com/
Cascale team member Hanna Griesbeck Garcia, manager of stakeholder engagement and project manager of TIWW, recently moderated The Industry We Want (TIWW) Deep Dive webinar that focused on unpacking challenges related to stagnating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the garment industry.
Cascale team member Hanna Griesbeck Garcia, manager of stakeholder engagement and project manager of TIWW, recently moderated The Industry We Want (TIWW) Deep Dive webinar that focused on unpacking challenges related to stagnating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the garment industry.
Cascale team member Hanna Griesbeck Garcia, manager of stakeholder engagement and project manager of TIWW, recently moderated The Industry We Want (TIWW) Deep Dive webinar that focused on unpacking challenges related to stagnating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the garment industry. The discussion centered around climate vulnerabilities impacting workers and supply chains, including extreme flooding and rising temperatures, and the importance of increasing climate adaptation efforts across the value chain. Panelists explored the economic and human cost of action and how industry-wide collaboration can drive meaningful change.
TIWW, an initiative convened by Fair Wear, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and Cascale, “envisages a garment and footwear industry that realizes its full potential to ensure dignity for workers in decent jobs, thriving businesses along the supply chain, and a positive impact on the planet.” In addition to Griesbeck Garcia, the webinar featured Brian Wakamo, research support specialist at the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University ILR School, and Prakash Menakel Philip, global director of strategy and impact at Cotton Connect.
Griesbeck Garcia gave an overview of TIWW’s history and detailed the development of three industry-wide metrics – greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, wages, and purchasing practices – to annually measure progress and drive action across the garment and footwear sector. She shared a snapshot of TIWW’s dashboard and explained how it synthesizes feedback and data from over 1,400 suppliers across 63 countries. She highlighted this year’s GHG scores, noting varied progress across the garment sector, with improvements in some areas and stagnation in others.
Griesbeck Garcia referenced insights from 2022 data provided by Cascale, Worldly, Textile Exchange, and Apparel Impact Institute (aii), which showed that emissions from the garment sector stood at 0.879 gigatons of CO2e. She noted that the Tier 2 stage was the biggest contributor, accounting for over 50 percent of the industry’s total emissions. Comparatively, the raw material stage contributed 21 percent, intermediate processing 15 percent, and finished product manufacturing 9 percent. Garcia emphasized the data showed a stagnating decrease in emissions, primarily due to efficiency improvements within the value chain being offset by a rise in material demand and an increase in fiber volumes.
Highlighting the impact of the climate crisis on regions crucial to the garment sector, Griesbeck Garcia asserted that to remain within the 1.5℃ climate target, the sector must achieve a 45 percent reduction by 2030 (based on a 2019 baseline year) and carbon neutrality by 2050. Griesbeck Garcia noted that the 1 percent decrease between the first and third cycles of the GHG emissions metric was a clear indication of the industry’s limited progress in reducing global warming.
Griesbeck Garcia asserted that the garment industry’s current mitigation efforts have failed to recognize the impacts of the climate crisis on workers and their communities. She called on stakeholders across the value chain to work towards a shared vision to build trust and enable collective action. Finally, she noted the need for industry-wide collaboration to support a power shift and systems change across the value chain, emphasizing that this is only possible if stakeholders come together to share successful and scalable solutions that amplify reach and effectiveness.
TIWW will be hosting its final Deep Dive of 2024, which will focus on the living wages metric. The panel will discuss how to tackle barriers to achieving living wages for workers along the value chain. It will explore the critical role of data and social dialogue in closing the wage gap, as well as the importance of worker involvement in shaping solutions. You can register here to join the discussion.
On a webinar hosted by Open Supply Hub, Andrew Martin explored the critical role of collaboration and data transparency in building ethical supply chains.
On a recent webinar hosted by Open Supply Hub (OS Hub), Andrew Martin, executive vice president Cascale, explored the critical role of collaboration and data transparency in building ethical supply chains.
OS Hub, which recently announced a strategic collaboration with Cascale, is a non-profit organization powering the transition to safe and sustainable supply chains by providing an open and accessible map of global production.
In addition to Martin, the webinar featured representatives from OS Hub, including Natalie Grillon, CEO and executive director; Hanna Lennett, stakeholder engagement director; Bruna Gomes, community manager; Francesca Romano, customer success manager; and Griffin Shay, growth and partnerships director, who moderated the session. Lekha Sridhar, research and special projects lead at WattTime, was also in attendance.
Martin began his presentation by highlighting the importance of transparency and why it is a critical part of Cascale’s work in the consumer goods industry. He noted the heightened pressure on brands and manufacturers resulting from new legislation, with decarbonization aims and the need for just transitions as a key driver. Martin shared how Cascale’s transparency efforts are evolving to not only underpin our policy and public affairs strategies, but to drive accountability, enabling us to scrutinize where progress is being made and where it is not, and crucially unblocking opportunities to drive positive impact.
Emphasizing how transparency removes barriers by revealing where members are active and best positioned to work together in order to create new efficiencies and support collective progress, Martin shared how the collaborative work between the OS Hub and Cascale underscores their aligned mission. First and foremost is the goal to enable accurate, accessible, and standardized data, empowering stakeholders throughout supply chains. He highlighted the two organizations’ shared commitments to openness, neutrality, and collaboration as key motivators for working together.
How does effective collaboration happen? Martin explained how OS Hub’s pre-competitive approach provides Cascale members with the agency to leverage the platform while continuing to work with the tech solutions that best meet their needs. He also shared how both organizations’ vision for sustainability through collaboration is empowering members to work more effectively within and beyond their current networks.
Another key element to the conversation was harmonization. Noting that the collaborative work also supports a vision for data harmonization across the consumer goods industry, Martin highlighted that harmonization is especially important for manufacturers because it reduces duplication of efforts. He also shared how Cascale supports OS Hub in democratizing supply chain data access by extending facility-level data visibility.
Speaking on the future of collaboration around supply chains, Martin shared how collaboration in supply chains will focus increasingly on harmonized solutions that allow for more efficient, coordinated efforts across the industry, noting how it aligns with Cascale’s approach to working with stakeholders. He highlighted the growing shift toward outreach beyond existing networks to engage new partners and stakeholders across the value chain, as well as how tools like OS Hub will enable Cascale to discover and connect with these groups. He also detailed how, through the adoption of OS Hub and other collaborative practices, members can shape a more just future for supply chains.
Martin noted Cacsale’s unique scope and scale in the industry, which can play a key role in both supporting OS Hub’s goal of achieving five million users by 2026 and enabling the integration of data and alignment on transparent standards between the organizations to set the foundation for a scalable, robust, and accessible global data platform that fosters industry-wide collaboration. As a clear demonstration of transparency in action, Martin foreshadowed a future where shared data fuels collective progress. He also gave special mention to the Brand & Retail Forum on December 4, which will include a planned session hosted by OS Hub and Fair Wear Foundation.
The recent 2024 Textile Exchange conference, held Oct. 28 to 31 in Pasadena, California, highlighted the real-time process of industry transformation.
Joining forces with Worldly, the most comprehensive sustainability data insights platform, representatives from Cascale’s membership, business development, and communications teams participated. Attendees dove deep into supply chain resilience, sustainable practices, and the role of data-driven solutions like the Higg Index. Coming on the heels of Cascale’s recent updates to the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) and the Higg Facility Environment Module (FEM) 2024 update, and anticipating the policy-focused Brand & Retail Forum in Brussels in December, the discussions could not have been more timely.
Opening the conference, Claire Bergkamp, Textile Exchange’s chief executive officer, issued an urgent call for collective action. “We are not afraid here, and neither should you, to air the elephants in the room, to tackle the hard things, because it’s only in doing that that we can really come to true resolution and true solutions,” she said. “In this room we have farmers, growers, producers, recyclers, brands, consultants, non profit and so many others. The diversity in this community is our strength.”
An opening plenary moderated by Sarah Kent, chief sustainability correspondent at The Business of Fashion, brought together Liz Ricketts, from the Ghana-based Or Foundation, with Matt Dwyer of Patagonia, a founding Cascale member, to explore waste and circularity. “Ultimately, cheap commodities require cheap labor,” Ricketts said. “Everyone is being squeezed along this value chain because we are not making clothing with enough value embedded into it.” At the day’s final plenary, Textile Exchange released its Materials Matter Standard, which the organization called “a new precedent for more sustainable materials production.”
Presenters and speakers included Cascale members from the manufacturing, brand/retail, and affiliate sectors. Represented membership included CottonConnect, Laudes Foundation, GIZ, VF Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co, Patagonia, TAL Apparel Limited, H&M, U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, GM Integrity Systems, New Zealand Merino Company, Puma, Apparel Impact Institute, Primark, Woolmark Company, Columbia Sportswear Company, Zalando SE, Reformation, Recover, lululemon Athletica Inc., adidas, ZDHC, and Eastman. Cascale Board members, VF’s Sean Cady and TAL Apparel’s Delman Lee, were also in attendance.
The critical nature of “The Case for Change,” the event’s theme, was echoed by Whitney Bauck, a climate journalist who was the event’s host. “This is life or death work,” Bauck said. “You may not feel that in your everyday, but there are communities that do.”
As regulation evolves, so does SLCP and Cascale’s commitment to decent work using the Higg FSLM and CAF.
Cascale and Open Supply Hub (OS Hub), a nonprofit leader in supply chain transparency, announce a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating transparency and sustainability across global supply chains.
Cascale and Open Supply Hub announce a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating transparency and sustainability across global supply chains.
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – October 23, 2024: Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), the global nonprofit alliance dedicated to driving equitable and restorative business practices in the consumer goods industry, and Open Supply Hub (OS Hub), a nonprofit leader in supply chain transparency, announce a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating transparency and sustainability across global supply chains. This collaboration will combine Cascale’s industry influence with OS Hub’s transparency model to create open, accessible data that empowers businesses to make responsible, impactful decisions. Together, the two organizations will work to foster a more transparent, accountable, and sustainable supply chain in the consumer goods industry.
This collaboration matters deeply to Cascale’s members and the broader industry as it addresses pressing challenges such as supply chain transparency, decarbonization, and human rights due diligence. By integrating Cascale’s extensive community of manufacturers, brands, retailers, and more with OS Hub’s data infrastructure, members can supplement the insights gathered through Cascale’s Higg Index tools, exclusively available on Worldly, with even more reliable, actionable data that can be used to strengthen collaborative sustainability efforts. This collaboration is not only an opportunity for increased accountability but also a driver for innovation and industry-wide action.
“Cascale is excited to work closely with Open Supply Hub to deliver meaningful progress towards a more transparent and sustainable supply chain,” said Colin Browne, CEO, Cascale. “Our members are hungry for change, and this comes with amplifying the existing tools, best practices, and resources that allow them to collaborate effectively and, ultimately, lead to greater improvements for the industry. We applaud the work Open Supply Hub has done thus far, and we are committed to working together to advance the disclosure of Tier 1 suppliers on Open Supply Hub. This data-driven initiative is a significant step forward in meeting the growing expectations for transparency and responsible business practices.”
“Building supply chain transparency programs individually isn’t enough. Unless we ensure that supply chain data is harmonized, interoperable, and poised for action, it’s incredibly difficult to realize the benefits of true transparency, and capitalize on collective opportunities,” said Natalie Grillion, CEO and Executive Director at Open Supply Hub. “We see this collaboration with Cascale as a critical stepping stone toward building safe and sustainable supply chains together. By combining Cascale’s extensive community and our model for making their data easy to share and work with, we can drive meaningful change faster than ever. This joint effort enables Cascale members to move beyond compliance and tick box exercises to decisive action on transparency, sustainability, and responsible sourcing, where reliable data leads to real-world impact across supply chains.”
To learn more about OS Hub, Cascale members and interested parties are invited to join the upcoming OS Hub webinar, Open Data Open Doors on November 21. During this live webinar, OS Hub will highlight how their uniquely built open database of over half a million production locations can be leveraged to advance supply chain transparency and sustainability goals. Attendees will also gain insights into the platform’s latest technical updates and an exclusive preview of upcoming developments planned for 2025. Early next year, Cascale members can expect further updates on joint initiatives and opportunities to get involved.
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. LinkedIn | X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Open Supply Hub is a non-profit platform powering the transition to safe and sustainable production, with the world’s most complete, open and accessible global supply chain map. With their users, they have mapped over half a million production locations around the world, showing where global production is happening and who is connected to each location. Open Supply Hub is used by some of the world’s best known brands, as well as human rights, labor and environmental groups. Individually or together, those organizations can contribute, download, and search the data to spot opportunities, build partnerships, and drive investment and impact. By making collectively built supply chain data easy for anyone to work with, Open Supply Hub’s model is opening doors to new solutions, targeted investment, and more effective collaborations. Explore | LinkedIn | YouTube | Subscribe
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – August 06, 2024: Cascale, a global nonprofit alliance empowering collaboration to drive equitable and restorative business practices in the consumer goods industry formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and the ZDHC Foundation, an organization leading global value chains to achieve the highest standards for sustainable chemical management, are pleased to announce the signing of a new strategic collaboration. This collaboration underscores a shared commitment to align and advance environmental sustainability in the consumer goods industry.
The two organizations have closely collaborated in the past years, aligning the Higg Brand and Retail Module (BRM) with ZDHC’s Brands to Zero reporting and, as of November 2023, ZDHC’s Supplier to Zero Programme aligns with Cascale’s Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) 4.0. This next collaboration stage aims to elevate the integration of processes, focusing on the organizations’ core competencies and establishing joint efforts to deliver a harmonized approach to facility-level environmental sustainability performance.
By integrating efforts, Cascale and ZDHC will continue to drive collective action, ensuring consistent improvements across multiple environmental impact areas such as (waste)water, sustainable chemical management and air.
Key focus areas, including the high-level goals, of the collaboration include:
These initiatives streamline processes, reduce redundancies, enhance data quality, and promote unified industry-wide education on sustainable chemical management.
“We are thrilled to join forces with ZDHC to drive forward our shared vision of environmental sustainability,” said Colin Browne, chief executive officer of Cascale. “This collaboration represents a significant step towards aligning industry practices and achieving measurable impact at scale.”
“The partnership with Cascale is a pivotal moment in our mission to advance our environmental sustainability efforts. At ZDHC, we believe systemic change is not about marketing headlines but foundational efforts. It requires a harmonized approach from NGOs, policymakers, and the industry, all working together towards realistic goals,” stated Frank Michel, CEO of the ZDHC Foundation.
Cascale Press Contact
Bobbie Semple, Account Supervisor, Small Girls PR
Email: cascale@smallgirlspr.com
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.
LinkedIn | X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
About ZDHC
The ZDHC Foundation leads the fashion industry in preventing harmful substances from being used in fashion production. It unites over 300 Signatories and develops guidelines, platforms and solutions that empower brands, suppliers, and chemical formulators to achieve the highest standards in safety and sustainability of their chemical management, driving resource efficiency and circularity.
This enables large-scale change towards zero hazardous chemical discharge across complex global supply chains. By creating the collaborative Roadmap to Zero Programme and equipping the fashion ecosystem with solutions, ZDHC plays an instrumental role in advancing the industry towards responsible chemical use that protects people and the planet.
For more information, go to roadmaptozero.com.
Colin Browne, chief executive officer of Cascale, and Andrew Martin, executive vice president, joined industry leaders and sustainability experts at ZDHC Impact Day in Amsterdam.
The Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation hosted the event. The NGO aims to lead the fashion industry in preventing hazardous chemicals from being used in fashion production. Building on its theme, “Chemistry in Fashion: Transforming Business,” the event focused on driving positive change in the fashion industry.
Frank Michel, CEO of ZDHC, began the day with a welcome that stressed the importance of emerging legislation. “We need to address policymakers [to] create meaningful regulation,” he said. “NGOs [should develop] mindful campaigns that allow for real systemic change.” Michel then invited Francesco Pianca, board chair at ZDHC, to share opening remarks. Pianca stressed the importance of regulation to move the industry forward. ”There is a waterfall of acronyms that relate to regulation,” he said. “Whether it is ESPR, EPR, CS3D, CSRD, all these regulations have a common denominator, which is chemicals. So we play a huge role in delivering those regulations and especially accelerating our work for a better world.” Michel highlighted the growth of the ZDHC community, which is committed to creating impact, but also noted that conflicting interests can challenge the creation of systemic change.
In his first industry event since joining Cascale as CEO, Colin Browne stressed the importance of collaboration to address industry challenges. “We’re not moving quick enough, we’re not doing enough,” he said. “We are too fractured. There are way too many different initiatives.” Browne called upon attendees to align their efforts and commit to making a lasting impact together.
Later, Cascale’s Andrew Martin joined a session focused on Brands to Zero, an initiative that helps brands and retailers implement sustainable chemical management practices throughout their supply chains. Martin shared how Cascale’s work is aligned: From the beginning, the organization focused on harmonization to reduce duplicating efforts. Like Browne, Martin highlighted the importance of partnerships and collaboration to drive systemic change.
Both Cascale and ZDHC recently published their impact reports showcasing their aligned work. Reflecting on Cascale’s collaborative work with ZDHC, Martin shared the example of how the Higg Facility Environmental Module aligned with the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero on wastewater, chemicals, and air. He also cited ongoing collaborative work on the chemical section of Cascale’s Higg Brand & Retail Module (BRM), which is now 73 percent aligned. Finally, while Martin bluntly challenged attendees on their role in perpetuating industry fragmentation with proprietary approaches, he also asked them to hold industry associations like Cascale and ZDHC to account to further drive alignment around impact areas that limit duplication. “True collaboration takes courage,” he said.
Joyce Tsoi, senior director of the Decarbonization Program at Cascale, joined a panel on “Sustainability and Finance in the World of Textiles” at the ITMAconnect Innovator Xchange Virtual Edition last month.
Joyce Tsoi, senior director of the Decarbonization Program at Cascale, joined a panel on “Sustainability and Finance in the World of Textiles” at the ITMAconnect Innovator Xchange Virtual Edition last month.
Moderated by Jeroen Vits, managing director of ITMA Services, Brussels, the panel also included Ryan Gaines, chief financial officer of Apparel Impact Institute, a Cascale partner, and Michael Rattinger, senior climate change specialist at Asian Development Bank.
Designed to offer perspective and insights on the intersection between sustainability and finance in the global textile supply chain, the panelists discussed sustainability requirements set by global brands and retailers and their impact on the global textile supply chain. Participants also shed light on financial instruments for the textile industry to realize its sustainable transformation demanded by many stakeholders.
Tsoi shared that ITMA is well positioned to weigh in on the transformations in the supply chain, a subject on which Cascale and collaborators are increasingly focused. She detailed how Aii and Cascale formed a strategic partnership in 2023 in order to expand impact and scale the collective knowledge base. Then stakeholders can align on funding, decision-making, and ultimately, accelerate action. For Aii, this chiefly involves Fashion Climate Fund and Climate Solutions Portfolio, which is meant to accelerate action and drive emissions reduction. Cascale’s focus is the Decarbonization Program and corresponding science-aligned targets (SATs) adoption, part of Cascale’s growing program base that is guided by the organization’s “Evolution for Impact” strategy.
With more than 300 members worldwide – including brands and retailers, manufacturers, and affiliate members – Tsoi shared that Cascale effectively represents half of the apparel, textiles, and footwear industry, in terms of revenue. She recommended brands and retailers utilize the Higg Index suite of tools and nominate their suppliers to participate in programs to improve energy efficiency and/or adopt solar rooftops at the facility level. Tsoi advised that brands communicate their climate goals and targets clearly with their suppliers and build deeper engagement on decarbonization intervention projects. These included coal phase out, optimizing energy efficiencies in production, and transitioning to low-carbon or renewable energy fuels or technologies. Overall, she said, the sector needs to realize significant decarbonization efforts in order to keep the global temperature rise within the 1.5-degree Celsius limit by 2030.
Finally, Tsoi shared a promising outlook for textile recycling, which can help to conserve resources in textile production and improve efficiencies. She called for the continued investment in developing these advanced technologies and infrastructure to boost the collection, sorting, and processing of textile waste, as well as research and development of using innovative materials.
Jeremy Lardeau, senior vice president of Higg Index at Cascale, moderated a sustainability stakeholder dialogue at PUMA HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany, part of a two-day event in which stakeholders converged to discuss the Sustainability Vision 2030 platform for PUMA, which has been a highly committed Cascale member since 2012.
At a panel that included Mike Burgass, co-founder and director at Biodiversity, Jeremy He, sustainability development director at Shenzhou International Group, Lindita Xhaveri-Salihu, business engagement lead at UN Climate Change, and Aishwarya Sharma, representative voice of a RE:GENERATION, Lardeau steered a discussion of critical goals for climate and biodiversity.
The panel discussed PUMA’s 2030 goals, which cover a wide range of sustainability targets including human rights, climate, and circularity, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Lardeau drew parallels between Cascale’s mission and vision and PUMA’s ambitious 10FOR25 targets. He also pointed out shared values of collaboration and collective action across the consumer goods industry, with notable alignment between PUMA and the ZDHC Foundation.
