Textile Exchange publishes first Biodiversity Insights Report
The Biodiversity Insights Report covers 157 companies including Hermès, H&M, Kering, Norrøna and Ralph Lauren, and identifies areas where companies are making progress, and outlines opportunities where more can be done.
It found 80% of companies are increasing their uptake of certified materials as a way of managing their impact on biodiversity, with organic cotton and other cotton standards the most popular.
Transparency is needed to track biodiversity and only 14% of companies know the countries where their key raw materials are grown or extracted. However, 38% of companies are making some kind of investment to improve outcomes for biodiversity.
The Biodiversity Benchmark was developed by Textile Exchange in partnership with The Biodiversity Consultancy, Conservation International and a co-led multi-stakeholder advisory group of more than 60 organisations and industry specialists, including the Science Based Targets Network, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and CDP.Liesl Truscott, head of corporate benchmarking at the Textile Exchange, said: “The role of this report, and the Biodiversity Benchmark, is twofold: to help companies make the link between biodiversity and the work that they are already doing with their materials strategies, and to support reporting and disclosure as a mechanism for mobilization and getting concrete biodiversity strategies in place.”
Clare Shine, CEO of University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, added: "We must act urgently to reverse the nature-climate crisis by 2030. The global fashion sector is uniquely positioned to lead and inspire collective imagination on how we view and value nature. This transformation must start now and mobilize people and resources along the design, supply and retail chain."
TE is encouraging the textiles and fashiion industry to be “nature positive” by 2030 in line with its Climate+ goal, with a 45% reduction in CO2 emissions from textile fibre and material production.
