The three online retailers are introducing an online learning platform that allows their brand partners set science-based objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The effort is an essential aspect of the retailers’ individual climate journeys since each has already set aggressive reduction objectives under the Science Based Targets project (SBTi).
The streamlined programme will be provided at no cost to ABOUT YOU, YOOX NET-A-PORTER, and ZALANDO brand partners. It will educate them on the importance and process of achieving climate objectives. It will walk you through the complex journey of measuring emissions, setting ambitious targets that align with climate science, and submitting them for approval to the Science Based Targets initiative. It will also give fashion businesses and sustainability specialists a dedicated location to interact.
While each of the three online retailers is dedicated to decreasing their direct emissions, upstream supply chain activities such as material manufacture, preparation, and processing account for 70 to 90 per cent of the fashion footprint. As a result, the programme has two major goals: to scale climate action throughout the sector for a larger effect and systems change, while also contributing to the reduction of the three online retailers’ own value chain emissions (Scope 3).
Science-based goals approved by the SBTi are internationally recognised and give firms clearly defined routes to decrease carbon emissions while future-proofing growth, adjusting to a changing regulatory landscape, increasing investor confidence, and encouraging innovation.
“In connecting greenhouse gas emission reduction routes with science, we see an industry-changing momentum.” As of July 2022, the SBTi had approved plans for over 1,500 enterprises. We established SBTi-approved science-based targets and are now reaping the benefits of our work. By February 2022, 46.6 per cent of our greenhouse gas emission partners had adopted their goals. We encourage our remaining business partners to follow suit,” said Hannes Wiese, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of ABOUT YOU.
“Our commitment to climate action can only be achieved through collaborative innovation. The following phase emphasises investing in brand partners at various stages of their climate journeys, assisting them in setting science-based objectives. By working with ABOUT YOU and ZALANDO, we can take a more consistent approach to decrease the emissions of luxury and fashion,” stated Geoffroy Lefebvre, CEO of YOOX NET-A-PORTER.
“Decarbonizing supply chains in collaboration with suppliers, brands, shipping partners, packaging partners, and now rivals is a tremendous lever for pushing genuine change in the fashion sector. We want 90 per cent of our partners (by emissions) to establish science-based objectives by 2025, and the new learning platform is a critical step toward that goal,” says David Schneider, Co-CEO of Zalando.
The antitrust-compliant effort will be launched as a trial with chosen brand partners in Autumn 2022, in conjunction with Quantis, a prominent environmental sustainability consultant with climate expertise. It will be made available to all qualifying brand partners in 2023. Looking ahead, the three online retailers believe the platform has the potential to become an industry-wide effort available to all interested fashion companies and retailers dedicated to aggressive climate action and a more sustainable future for fashion.
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