Cascale, Worldly Host Climate Event, Mark Decarbonization Steps
The organizations co-hosted a New York Climate Week Event with many fantastic speakers and insights. Read more here!
Brand & Retail Tools
Identify opportunities for continuous sustainability improvement in company operations
For brands and retailers of all shapes and sizes throughout the textile, apparel and footwear industry.
How It Works
The Higg Brand & Retail Module (Higg BRM) aligns with relevant frameworks and regulations in the industry, such as Textile Exchange’s Material Change Index, and the ZDHC Brands to Zero program. In doing so, brands and retailers can build consistent corporate sustainability strategies to deliver more effectively on their ESG goals and industry needs.
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01Environmental
- Biodiversity
- Climate
- Chemicals
- Waste
- Water
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02Social
- Workers
- Employees
- Consumer
- Communities
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03Governance
- Structure & Management
- Ethics & Behavior
The Higg BRM assesses sustainability performance across 11 key impact areas within three pillars:
Key Benefits
The Higg BRM aims to set the global standard for transparency and be the leading industry-specific ESG framework
Get Started with the Higg BRM
Brands and Retailers can use the Higg Index tools without formally becoming a member of Cascale. However, as a member, you receive access to exclusive community support, educational experiences and collaborative opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
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After an organization has completed the Self-Assessment, they can then work towards externally verifying the BRM to ensure their organization’s data is accurate. The process of verification is generally similar to other sustainability report assurance/verification processes and is initiated with an approved verifier once the complete BRM Self-Assessment has been submitted. Cascale has a list of approved verifying bodies.
Members and users currently are not required to pay a Higg BRM Verification Access Fee. Cascale reserves the right to change the Verification Access Fee process in the future. -
In practice, each question in the BRM 2022 is worth a specific number of points out of 100. The number of points a question is worth depend on the survey taker’s type — i.e. Brand, Retailer, Brand & Retailer. Since each type answers a different number of questions, their possible question scores will vary. It is important to note that in the BRM assessment all questions, except the data submission requests, are scored and visible.
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Placing value and communicating ESG initiatives can be extremely complicated, so BRM results can help companies explain their actions in a more comparable and transparent way. Self-Assessment results can be shared internally and externally with wider stakeholders; the Self-Assessment (verified or unverified) together with the scores can also be shared on the Worldly platform with business partners and suppliers who are Higg Index users. As a user you may request BRM results from the partners with whom you work; this information can be used as part of any risk, procurement, or contractual guidelines you may have regarding sustainability. It is important to note that any wider public communication of BRM results will only be enabled once an organization’s score has been verified by an Approved Verifier. While we encourage all BRM data to be as transparent as possible, we aim to keep scores balanced, trusted, and credible, which is why only verified results may be publicly disclosed, following our Communication Guidelines.
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The BRM has been designed to create an industry specific method to report on ESG performance. By completing the assessment, brands and retailers are able to understand their ESG progress. They will also be able to share this with internal and external stakeholders by following the Communications Guidelines. After completing the BRM, a company receives the following results.
- One Total Score – Each completed BRM Self-Assessment will result in one finite score out of 100 presented as a percentage. This score is simple to communicate and easy to understand; it can be used to benchmark the organization against peers and share with consumers.
- ESG Scores – In addition, each company will receive a score for each pillar of activity – Environment, Social and Governance – with detailed scores on each impact area within the pillar. This is a useful way to show how the company is progressing in each area.
Resources
Higg BRM Looks to Support CSRD Compliance, Per White Paper
With compliance around the corner, Cascale published a white paper showcasing how the Higg Brand and Retail Module (Higg BRM) is answering the call.
Adrián Branco
August 15, 2024
Cascale’s Higg Index Tool Evolution Helps Consumer Goods Companies Meet New EU Reporting Obligations
In an era where sustainability reporting is more critical than ever, Cascale’s Higg BRM is leading the charge to help brands meet new EU standards
August 14, 2024
How the Higg BRM Supports CSRD Reporting Obligations
In this paper, we articulate exactly how the Higg Brand and Retail Module (Higg BRM) can assist brands and retailers (undertakings) in fulfilling their reporting requirements under the European Union’s (EU) Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
August 14, 2024