Blogs / Why Responsible Purchasing Practices Are Climate Policy

Why Responsible Purchasing Practices Are Climate Policy

Better Buying
Responsible Purchasing Practices

Responsible purchasing practices are essential to climate progress. Learn why supplier resilience and fair purchasing are key to achieving long-term decarbonization.

workers in an industrial garment factory sew clothes on sewing machine

Katie Hess

July 13, 2026

Responsible purchasing practices (RPP) are not just a “nice to have” in the textile industry — they are where climate ambition succeeds or fails in practice.

When buyers cancel orders, push down prices, change timelines, or create volatility, the impacts ripple through supply chains in ways that undermine labor rights and environmental outcomes.

Recent U.S. tariff disruptions show what happens when commercial risk is pushed down the supply chain.

An investigation earlier this year found that paused orders and cancelled purchases following new U.S. import tariffs contributed to labor risks in garment factories, as suppliers operating on already low margins struggled to absorb sudden cost shocks. These are not isolated side effects of market disruption — they are predictable outcomes when commercial risk is pushed down the supply chain.

Volatility is not the issue. Risk transfer is.

Commercial strain weakens supplier resilience — and resilience is essential to climate action. Better Buying’s supplier-reported data consistently shows that when pressures build, suppliers have less room to absorb shocks, less ability to plan, and less capacity to invest in the operational improvements that climate progress requires.

But here’s the good news: where there’s an impact, there is potential to influence.

This is the part often missing from climate conversations: suppliers cannot decarbonize in unstable commercial environments. Commercial predictability changes the game. Because when factories are managing last-minute changes, reduced margins, delayed payments, or unpredictable order volumes, they are not operating from a position of resilience. That’s a position of reactivity. And resilience is what makes long-term investments in cleaner production, efficiency, and emissions reductions possible.

The problem is not disruption itself, but how buyers anticipate it. When buyers respond to uncertainty by changing terms, cutting prices, or cancelling orders at short notice, the burden of adaptation falls on suppliers and workers, and climate progress becomes harder to sustain.

RPP challenges the characteristic race to the bottom that has long shaped the apparel industry.

It links climate ambition to real economic decisions. Climate strategies are harder to deliver if purchasing teams are incentivized to prioritize short-term cost savings over long-term stability. Fair terms, predictable planning, realistic timelines, and consistent communication are not sustainability add-ons — they are the commercial conditions that make decarbonization possible.

Tariff uncertainty makes the case even clearer. As further trade disruption looks likely, buyers will either reinforce or undermine supplier resilience. Embedding RPP now is one of the most direct ways companies can protect workers, stabilize supply chains, and support long-term climate goals.

Responsible purchasing practices are a critical part of building more resilient supply chains — and supplier feedback is essential to understanding where change is needed.

Explore Cascale’s Better Buying to learn how supplier insights are helping companies strengthen purchasing practices and support more resilient supply chains.

Better Buying

Better Buying

Cascale’s acquisition of Better Buying tools and methodologies reflects our commitment to advancing responsible purchasing practices and promoting fair, accountable, and socially just supply chains.

Case Studies / Hirdaramani Group: Advancing Responsible Purchasing Through Better Buying

Hirdaramani Group: Advancing Responsible Purchasing Through Better Buying

Manufacturers
Better Buying
Decent Work
Responsible Purchasing Practices

As a globally recognized apparel manufacturer with over a century of industry leadership, Hirdaramani Group continues to play a defining role in advancing sustainable and responsible practices across the apparel value chain. A Cascale member since 2013, the Group operates vertically integrated facilities across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Africa, partnering with leading global brands to deliver end-to-end apparel solutions and enable more transparent, future-ready supply chains.

Guided by its Future First Sustainability Roadmap, Hirdaramani integrates environmental stewardship, social impact, and responsible governance across its operations. Within this broader strategy, participation in Cascale’s Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index (BBPPI) serves as a strategic platform to strengthen buyer-supplier partnerships and support the evolution of responsible purchasing practices across the industry.

Impact at a Glance

Leveraging Better Buying to amplify supplier voice and inform more responsible purchasing practices
Integrating purchasing practice dialogue into the Future First sustainability framework through Better Buying
Strengthening transparency and accountability across global buyer relationships
Advancing measurable sustainability progress, including:
- Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from energy across Sri Lanka’s manufacturing operations
- 17 LEED Gold and Platinum-certified facilities across the global footprint
- Over 21,000 employees engaged through well-being and empowerment programs
- First Sri Lankan company to have its net-zero science-based targets approved

Creating Better Conditions for Supplier-Buyer Collaboration

Manufacturers are expected to keep advancing climate and social priorities while managing the daily realities of sourcing and production. Purchasing practices play a direct role in shaping that environment. Planning changes, delayed payments, and pricing pressure can affect how suppliers manage resources, schedule production, and sustain longer-term efforts.

Better Buying brings those conditions into view through structured supplier feedback on buyer purchasing practices. For Hirdaramani Group, this creates a practical opportunity to contribute insight from the manufacturing side of the value chain. A consistent feedback process can bring alignment for day-to-day operations and open stronger conversations with buyers about how to improve together.

Aligning the Group’s sustainability progress with accountability, transparency, and stronger working relationships throughout the supply chain, Better Buying supports a more consistent and constructive dialogue between suppliers and buyers.

How Hirdaramani Uses Better Buying to Strengthen Dialogue with Buyers

Hirdaramani approaches Better Buying not only as a reporting mechanism but also as a practical tool for engagement and industry advancement. Across its Future First Roadmap, the company has connected sustainability progress with clearer structures, stronger reporting standards, and greater transparency and accountability. Better Buying fits within that approach by offering the Hirdaramani team a confidential way to share supplier experience and help inform more effective purchasing practices over time.

As noted by Nikhil Hirdaramani, Director at the Hirdaramani Group, the tool offers a “secure and anonymous feedback channel” that has supported more constructive and action-oriented engagement with customers. Better Buying has also driven stronger, more transparent conversations that contribute to continuous improvements over time.

Better Buying complements Hirdaramani’s broader sustainability efforts by strengthening accountability and more closely linking operational performance to buyer relationships.

Partnership as a Driver of Improvement

Collaboration is central to Hirdaramani Group’s approach to sustainability. Through its Future First Roadmap, the Group works closely with global brands, industry platforms, and stakeholders to advance progress across climate action, social impact, traceability, and innovation.

Participation in Better Buying strengthens this collaborative approach by:

Translating supplier experience into actionable insights
Supporting more informed and responsive decision-making by buyers
Building trust through greater transparency and shared accountability

In this way, the partnership becomes part of how progress is shaped and sustained across the value chain.

Why This Matters

Hirdaramani’s experience shows how structured supplier feedback can strengthen partnerships and support more effective purchasing practices. By connecting operational insights with strategic buyer engagement, Better Buying helps bridge critical gaps in the apparel value chain.

As expectations on sustainability continue to grow, aligning purchasing practices with these ambitions will remain essential. For Hirdaramani Group, Better Buying strengthens this effort by connecting day-to-day operational realities with buyer relationships, helping ensure that progress across the value chain is both practical and sustained.

For more on Hirdaramani’s broader sustainability journey, listen to Nikhil Hirdaramani on Cascale’s Source of Good podcast episode, “From Tailors to Global Trailblazers: Talking Climate Action with Hirdaramani and ASICS.”

Participate in the BBPPI

First-time participants can access it here, while returning participants can simply log in.

Blogs / Rana Plaza Reminds Us of the Necessity of Responsible Purchasing Practices

Rana Plaza Reminds Us of the Necessity of Responsible Purchasing Practices

Decent Work
Responsible Purchasing Practices

In 2026, workplace safety standards and protections are essential, but they are not enough on their own. Fairness in purchasing must be part of the conversation.

Katie Hess

April 24, 2026

Key Takeaways

On the 13th anniversary of Rana Plaza, we must recognize both the progress made and the work that remains unfinished.
Purchasing practices are a critical part of creating safer, more stable, and more equitable supply chains.
Better Buying enables a buyer-supplier feedback loop that helps companies understand how purchasing practices are experienced by suppliers through confidential, anonymized feedback and benchmarked insights.

For those with careers in fashion and consumer goods, the name Rana Plaza is unforgettable.

Just 13 years ago, this devastating factory collapse claimed 1,134 lives and injured several thousand in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Out of it came a new vision of garment worker protections in the form of the landmark Bangladesh Accord.

A turning point for the industry, the Accord paved the way for brand accountability and responsibility never before seen. It helped establish a stronger foundation for worker safety, well-being, and protections for the most vulnerable. This remains especially important because women of color make up the majority of the garment workforce.

After the Bangladesh Accord’s expiry came the binding International Accord and successor agreements like the Pakistan Accord (renewed in January) with over 100 global brand and trade union signatories, many of whom are Cascale members and Better Buying subscribers.

Like its predecessor, the Pakistan Accord supports continued progress on fire, electrical, structural, and boiler safety in factories, while also strengthening worker awareness, complaint mechanisms, and other protections. The International Accord has also continued to evolve in response to emerging risks, including the growing urgency of heat stress in production environments.

Today – as always, workplace safety standards and protections are essential. And when we talk about protecting workers, we also need to talk about the purchasing decisions that shape conditions throughout global supply chains.

When it comes to purchasing practices, Cascale’s Better Buying captures this information directly from the source: suppliers.

Now in our 10th survey cycle for Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index (BBPPI), we’ve captured how the seven categories of purchasing practices influence supply chains in reality. Last year’s survey, again, reaffirmed that repeat Better Buying brand subscribers outperform the benchmark. Across areas like planning and forecasting, design and development, cost and cost negotiation, sourcing and order placement, payment and terms, and buyer-supplier management, Better Buying continues to show that commercial decisions directly influence stability, trust, and working conditions in supply chains.

That is why responsible purchasing practices are a core part of decent work.

Through confidential, anonymized supplier feedback, 1,360 suppliers participated in Better Buying last year. Their input helps create a clearer picture of how purchasing practices are experienced in reality and where change is still needed.

Because to truly honor the past and the improvements made, we must continue to take an active role in driving accountability for our collective future. If we want supply chains that are safer, more stable, and more equitable, factory safety protections must continue, and so must the work to improve the purchasing practices that shape outcomes every day. Thirteen years after Rana Plaza, that responsibility remains with all of us.

As we reflect on this anniversary, supplier voice remains essential to continued progress. If you are a supplier that has worked with a buyer in the past 12 months, we encourage you to share your experience (entirely for free and anonymously) through the Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index (BBPPI). First-time participants can submit here. And if you are returning to Better Buying, please proceed to this gateway.

Only together can we ensure that fairness in this industry extends to every stakeholder.

Blogs / Turning Heat Stress Guidance into Practical Industry Action

Turning Heat Stress Guidance into Practical Industry Action

Decent Work
Supply Chain

In this guest blog, Nate Herman, executive vice president of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), shares why heat stress guidance matters now and what effective implementation will require across the value chain.

Employee's working with their sewing machines in clothing factory

Nate Herman

April 22, 2026

Key Takeaways:

Heat stress impacts a wide range of stakeholders and business activities.
A structured approach gives more clarity to how brands and manufacturers can collaboratively address and mitigate heat stress.
Newly released, the AAFA Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress aims to promote practical action on heat stress.

Heat stress is not a new issue, but it’s accelerating at a pace that the apparel and footwear industry must take further action upon. It is influencing how factories operate, how companies think about worker well-being, and how supply chains prepare for operational disruption.

For an industry that produces globally and sells globally, heat stress has implications across sourcing, production, and business continuity.

That is why AAFA has been working with industry stakeholders to develop the AAFA Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress, focusing on what it takes to move from awareness to practical implementation.

Why Heat Stress Demands Greater Industry Alignment

Over the past several years, companies have made incremental progress on social responsibility and environmental performance, yet not fast enough, as recent Cascale reports noted. Expectations across supply chains have also become more complex, and companies are managing more requirements than ever before.

Heat stress brings those pressures into sharper focus because at the center of this industry is – and always will be – people.

It affects workers directly. It affects production timelines. And it raises important questions about how expectations are set and applied across the value chain.

Across many major sourcing regions, rising temperatures and more frequent extreme heat conditions are making this issue harder to ignore, particularly in factory environments where ventilation, pace of work, and other workplace conditions can intensify risk.

The goal of this work is to help the industry move toward a more consistent and practical approach.

What Manufacturers and Brands Are Telling Us

As part of this process, AAFA engaged dozens of stakeholders across the value chain. This included recent input gathered with support from Cascale, bringing in perspectives from both manufacturers and brands.

A few themes came through clearly. First, there is broad recognition that this is an important issue and that guidance can play a useful role.

Second, there is a strong focus on how that guidance is applied in practice. Manufacturers emphasized the need for approaches that reflect on-the-ground realities, including existing systems, operational constraints, and local conditions. Brands raised similar questions around how guidance can be integrated into current compliance programs without creating duplication or unintended consequences. Across both groups, there was a consistent message: clarity, consistency, and practicality matter.

What the Guidance Is Designed to Help Companies Do

The AAFA guidance is intended to help companies and facilities take a more structured approach to identifying, monitoring, and managing heat stress risks across the supply chain.

In practical terms, the guidance is designed to support companies in several areas, including:

Determining when workplace heat conditions become excessive
Monitoring and recording heat conditions at the facility level
Tracking and responding to heat-related illness
Preventing, mitigating, and managing excessive heat days through practical workplace measures
Developing heat action plans and response procedures
Strengthening worker training, awareness, and monitoring programs

It also encourages factories to establish heat thresholds, adjust workloads, and water and bathroom breaks in accordance with heat conditions, and strengthen alignment with applicable workplace health and labor requirements.

Just as important, based on recommendations from Cascale members and other stakeholders, the guidance emphasizes the importance of communication between buyers and suppliers, and between suppliers and their workers. Every decision to protect workers from heat stress can involve costs, impact production, affect workers, and change timelines. Regular communication between suppliers, buyers, and the workers themselves, is critical to make any effort to protect workers from heat stress a success.

The objective is to give companies guidance they can actually use — guidance that helps translate a growing body of research, policy attention, and industry concern into practical action on the factory floor.

Why Implementation Will Matter as Much as the Guidance Itself

As with any industry guidance, how it is used will ultimately determine its impact. That includes how expectations are communicated, how they are implemented at the facility level, and how companies work together when challenges arise. It also requires being mindful of unintended outcomes, such as additional audits, overlapping requests, delivery delays, additional costs, or requirements that are difficult to operationalize in practice. Getting this right will require continued dialogue across brands, manufacturers, and other stakeholders.

What Progress Will Require Going Forward

The AAFA Guide to Protecting Workers from Heat Stress is part of an ongoing effort. It will continue to evolve as the industry builds more experience and as conditions change.

AAFA will continue working with industry partners to refine the guidance and support implementation. For example, AAFA has planned an upcoming open industry webinar, “Implementing the AAFA Heat Guidance,” on May 19, which will provide an opportunity to walk through the guidance in more detail and discuss what practical implementation may look like across the value chain.

Efforts like those facilitated by Cascale are an important part of that process, helping to surface practical insights and ensure that a range of perspectives are reflected. Heat stress is a complex challenge, but it is one the industry is increasingly equipped to address. Progress will depend on alignment, collaboration, and a shared focus on what works in practice. By continuing to build on industry input and focusing on practical application, there is an opportunity to develop approaches that better support workers and strengthen the long-term resilience of global supply chains.

Members: Read the Summary of Member Perspectives on Cascale Connect