Online fashion retailers About You, Yoox
Net-a-Porter (YNAP) and Zalando
have teamed up for a joint effort to reduce carbon emissions within their value
chains and across the fashion industry. The ecommerce giants are launching an
online learning platform to support their brand partners in setting
science-based emissions-reduction
targets.
The work forms a critical part of the three retailers’ own respective climate
journeys, with each having already set ambitious reduction targets themselves
through the Science Based Targets initiative
(SBTi).
The customized program — which will be available for free to About You, YNAP and
Zalando brand partners — is designed to explain the value and process behind
setting climate targets. It will provide step-by step guidance on how to begin
effectively measuring emissions, set ambitious targets that align with climate
science, and submit them for approval to SBTi. It will also provide a dedicated
space for fashion brands to engage with one another and with sustainability
experts.
While each of the three online retailers are committed to their own direct
emissions reductions, 70-90 percent of the fashion footprint comes from upstream
supply chain activities — such as material production, preparation and
processing.
The initiative therefore serves two main goals: to scale climate action for
broader impact and industry-wide transformation, whilst also helping to reduce
the three online retailers’ own value chain (Scope
3)
emissions.
“Decarbonizing supply
chains
in partnership with suppliers, brands, logistics, packaging partners and now
also our competitors is a powerful lever for driving meaningful change in the
fashion industry,” says David Schneider, Co-CEO at Zalando. “We aim for 90
percent of our partners (by emissions) to set science-based targets by 2025; and
the new learning platform is a key initiative towards realizing this ambitious
goal.”
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Amid calls for industry players to take an ambitious position on climate action,
science-based targets validated by the SBTi are internationally recognized and
provide companies with clearly defined pathways to reduce their carbon emissions
while future-proofing growth, adapting to a changing regulatory landscape,
boosting investor confidence, and spurring innovation.
“We see an industry-changing momentum in aligning greenhouse gas
emission-reduction pathways with science. More than 1,500 companies had their
targets approved by the SBTi as of July 2022; we have set science-based targets
approved by the SBTi and are benefitting from our efforts now,” stated Hannes
Wiese, co-founder and co-CEO of About You — one of Europe’s largest fashion
and lifestyle platforms. “46.6 percent of our partners on greenhouse gas
emissions had their targets approved by February 2022. We invite the remaining
business partners to do the same.”
“Our commitment to climate action can only be realized through innovative
partnership. This next step prioritizes investing in brand partners at different
stages in their climate journeys, supporting them to set their science-based
targets,” said Geoffroy Lefebvre, CEO of luxury e-tailer Yoox Net-a-Porter.
“By collaborating with About You and Zalando, together we can drive a more
consistent approach in our efforts towards reducing the emissions of luxury and
fashion.”
The initiative, which is antitrust-compliant and run in collaboration with
environmental sustainability consultancy Quantis, will
be launched as a pilot with selected brand partners in Autumn 2022. In 2023, it
will become available to all eligible brand partners. Looking forward, the three
online retailers see potential for the platform to become an industry-wide
initiative open to all interested fashion brands and retailers committed to
ambitious climate action and creating a more sustainable future for fashion.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jul 21, 2022 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST