Cascale convened stakeholders to establish an aligned industry definition of Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP). Announced in May 2026, the milestone marked an important step towards industry alignment for baseline environmental management practices expected of all global manufacturing facilities producing consumer goods. Developed through engagement with 80 stakeholders at more than 30 organizations across the value chain, the initiative aimed to improve consistency, strengthen comparability, support legal compliance, and reduce environmental risks across supply chains.
Why is FEP important?
An aligned definition of Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) was developed to address a fundamental gap: the absence of a clear, unified, industry-aligned definition of what baseline environmental performance should look like. While there is broad agreement that facilities must meet essential environmental management practices, the industry had lacked a consistent, shared understanding, creating reputational, regulatory, and credibility risks for brands, manufacturers, and suppliers, particularly as stakeholder scrutiny increases.
FEP Impact
FEP aims to:
Through a single, industry-aligned definition of environmental performance, FEP helps all stakeholders in the consumer goods supply chain:
Background
Given its scope, member reach, and stewardship of the Higg Index, which is implemented globally through the Worldly sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform, Cascale was uniquely positioned to convene the industry on a solution.
In 2024, Cascale launched the Aligned Industry Definition of Foundational Environmental Performance (AIDFEP) initiative, a multi-phase consultative process that prioritized inclusivity and ensured balanced input from all key stakeholders including Cascale members (through the Higg FEM Strategic Council) and — critically — manufacturers and suppliers, as well as brands, retailers, and nonprofit organizations to shape an industry-aligned definition for FEP. The work was rooted in Cascale’s mission to Combat Climate Change.
Through the AIDFEP initiative, Cascale engaged 80 stakeholders at more than 30 organizations across the value chain to shape an industry-aligned framework for FEP. These consultations resulted in five guiding principles defining the baseline for FEP across all critical areas.
Five Guiding Principles
The five guiding principles established through the AIDFEP initiative provide a clear, industry-aligned foundation for consistent environmental performance expectations across global consumer goods manufacturing.
Industry Alignment
Following the AIDFEP initiative, Cascale convened manufacturer and brand member representatives from the Higg FEM Strategic Council (SC) and industry stakeholders, including World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and ZDHC, to establish the FEP question set. Guided by the initiative’s five principles, Cascale identified a subset of existing Level 1 questions within the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) assessment.
Clear, consistent definitions are fundamental to driving credible environmental action. By aligning stakeholders around a shared framework for Foundational Environmental Performance, the industry can improve comparability, strengthen decision-making, and unlock more effective strategies to manage environmental risks across value chains.
Eliot Metzger, director of sustainable business and innovation, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Defining Foundational Environmental Performance helps ensure that all facilities are meeting a minimum standard to prevent environmental harm. This kind of alignment is essential to safeguarding ecosystems, reducing cumulative impacts across supply chains, and enabling more ambitious progress over time.
Payal Luthra, global textiles lead, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Industry alignment on foundational expectations is critical to advancing sustainable chemical management and reducing environmental risk. We welcome the alignment with ZDHC’s frameworks and appreciate that all Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) questions reflected in the Higg FEM are in scope for Level 1 of ZDHC Supplier to Zero V2 as foundational requirements. This reinforces consistency and clarity for suppliers working toward improved performance.
Frank Michel, chief executive officer, ZDHC Foundation
FEP and Higg FEM
The Higg FEM is the most widely adopted facility-level environmental assessment framework, implemented globally through the Worldly sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform. As a result of the stakeholder engagement process, the FEP question set will be tagged within the Higg FEM; no new questions will be added.
FEP Governance
The FEP question set addresses critical environmental performance areas that are central to sustainability progress in the consumer goods industry. As such, ensuring it is subject to the appropriate governance mechanisms is both a priority and a responsibility for Cascale. The FEP question set will therefore be directly governed by Cascale’s Technical Advisory Council (TAC), and includes:
This structured approach balances stability and predictability with the need to remain aligned with regulatory changes, industry standards, and stakeholder expectations.
Cascale convenes stakeholders to define Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) in order to improve compliance, reduce risk, and strengthen data consistency across consumer goods supply chains.
