This week, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched the Deforestation-Free
Leather
Fund
— an opportunity for companies to walk their talk around improving the
sustainability of leather supply chains through strategic investments to improve
traceability and resilience.
One of the world’s most ubiquitous textiles — found in goods including
footwear, apparel, furniture, car interiors and more — the
environmental impacts of cattle ranching, including rampant
deforestation,
make the leather industry a major contributor to climate
change.
While more and more major brands are exploring
plant-based,
circular and
non-bovine alternatives, uptake is not nearly fast enough to upset global demand
for conventional
leather
— so, collective measures to drive significant supply chain improvements are
imperative.
The Deforestation-Free Leather Fund will target geographies with ecosystems at
higher risk of environmental degradation and focus on solutions that accelerate
deforestation- and conversion-free sourcing from those regions. The projects
will initially include operations in Brazil, with an eye to expanding to
other beef-producing countries in South America in the near future.
“While leather is a byproduct of the beef and dairy industries, it still carries
responsibility for embedded impacts and emissions in the supply chain,” said
Fernando
Bellese,
Senior Director for Beef and Leather Supply Chains at WWF. “Companies that use
leather — including those in the fashion, automotive and furniture industries —
have unique leverage within the supply chain to encourage and support more
sustainable practices by influencing beef and tannery operations.”
Fueling collective impact
As is the case with nearly all sustainability-related business challenges,
particularly when it comes to supply chains, collective action increases the
likelihood of success in addressing the environmental impacts of
beef
and leather production; WWF will seek contributions to the fund from brands,
retailers, leather processors and manufacturers. The fund will help to
accelerate supply-chain improvements — enabling companies to deliver their
deforestation-free
commitments,
send strong market signals to cattle ranchers, and beef and leather
producers; and contribute to more sustainable leather production.
Since 2023, WWF has been a leading partner of the Deforestation-Free Call to
Action for
Leather
— a joint initiative with Leather Working
Group (LWG) and Textile
Exchange that asks brands
and retailers to commit to sourcing leather from deforestation- and
conversion-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier. The Call to Action
has 22 signatory companies, representing more than $300 billion in annual
revenue.
“The fund is an option for companies in the Deforestation-Free Call to Action
for Leather (but also others) that have committed to supporting their supply
chains,” Bellese told Sustainable Brands® (SB) via email. “We have seen
that brands and retailers often don’t have the experience and connections to
identify meaningful initiatives in supporting the transition to more responsible
practices at the raw-material production level; so, we want to support them by
connecting with projects that have already been tested, have the capacity to be
scaled or are already delivering meaningful results. And by working
collectively, they have the opportunity to increase the significance of those
projects.”
Leading by example
Tapestry, Inc — New York-based parent company
of luxury lifestyle brands including
Coach and Kate
Spade, and signatory of the Call to Action — is the
first company to contribute to the Deforestation-Free Leather Fund. That
commitment builds on the Tapestry Foundation’s $3 million grant to
WWF
in 2022 to enhance traceability of the leather value chain in Brazil and convene
the industry.
During a press briefing for the launch of the Fund, Tapestry VP of ESG and
Sustainability Logan Duran
shared that leather is the company’s highest-volume material — comprising 53
percent of materials across its portfolio of brands — and LWG-certified
tanneries provide 90 percent of its leather. He said Tapestry is on track to
fully trace and map its raw
materials
by the end of 2025.
“Tapestry’s investment in the fund continues and expands the company’s
commitment to addressing climate change through long-term sustainable solutions
and immediate actions,” Duran said in a
statement.
“We believe strongly in the importance of sustainability in leather
manufacturing, and this commitment reaffirms that belief. We invite other
companies, both within and outside our industry, to join us in these efforts.”
The Deforestation-Free Leather Fund will support initiatives in the following areas:
-
Traceability systems to verify responsible sourcing: Extend existing
initiatives and support new efforts to scale adoption of effective systems
that enable end-to-end traceability in cattle supply chains.
-
Farm-level investments to promote the supply of deforestation-and
conversion-free leather: Direct investments to address farm-level
challenges and opportunities to improve cattle production.
-
Farm regularization to support market access: Assist farmers and
ranchers to formalize operations, rehabilitate degraded farmland, and
establish pathways for continuous improvement.
In the first three years of activity, the fund aims to support the ear-tagging
and individual traceability of 1 million head of Brazilian cattle and promote
the recovery of 45,000 hectares (111,200 acres) of degraded land. Bellese told
SB the goal is to begin directing fund contributions by Q4 2025.
WWF will oversee the governance and day-to-day management of the fund, aiming to
collect $10 million from companies to cover the first three years of
on-the-ground operations. For brands and retailers, contributions will be
requested based on annual revenue. For leather processors and manufacturers,
contributions will be requested based on the number of hides processed annually.
During the briefing, Bellese pointed out the utility of mechanisms such as the
Deforestation-Free Leather Fund in the face of increased regulatory risks — the
EU’s Deforestation
Regulation
comes into effect for imports at the end of this year — and increasing consumer
preference
for sustainably produced and sourced products.
“Sometimes it’s very hard to identify relevant projects to support supply
chains,” Bellese said. “We want to make that connection.”
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Mar 6, 2025 8am EST / 5am PST / 1pm GMT / 2pm CET