Luxury makeover: Kering to go 'carbon neutral' by offsetting 2018 emissions

Credit: Sardaka

On Tuesday, Kering announced that the luxury group, which includes brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, will become carbon neutral across its operations and supply chain by offsetting its greenhouse gas emissions from 2018. The announcement follows Gucci’s own carbon neutrality pledge earlier this month and comes a day after Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s emotional speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.

"We are going a step ahead in the implementation of our sustainability strategy," says Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability officer. Kering’s sustainability initiatives to date have included work to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a push for the use of reusable energy, says Daveu. “Where we won't be able to have zero impact it's important to offset.”

Fashion companies are increasingly pledging to offset their carbon footprint as it shows a commitment to sustainability, but the benefits of these initiatives are not guaranteed. “There is nothing logical or innovative around carbon offsetting unless it comes with a very serious commitment to prevent and reduce the company's carbon footprint,” says Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution.

Kering, which also led the formation of the Fashion Pact to combat climate change at the 45th G7 Summit in August, has pledged to reduce all of its operations and supply chain greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2025. The ambitious goal sets the industry in the right direction, but de Castro points out that without an external policing body, there is no guarantee of accountability.

Gucci Spring/Summer 2020.

Since 2011, Kering has measured the group’s greenhouse gas emissions through environmental profit and loss accounting (EP&L) to implement changes in its supply chain and promote efficiency initiatives across the board. These efforts have focused on offsetting two of the three types of emissions as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, by operating on direct emissions from owned or controlled sources and emissions from the generation of purchased energy.

With its latest pledge, the group will offset all remaining emissions in the protocol, meaning upstream and downstream emissions in the value chain. For 2018, these remaining emissions will account for approximately 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The group’s offsetting practices rely on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) projects, which include a partnership with the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN) to promote the conservation of biodiversity in farming practices, and collaborating with the Savory Institute’s Frontier Founder initiative to encourage regenerative grazing practices. The company’s 2018 offset will equal around 2 million hectares of forests around the world.

Kering’s announcement pushes it ahead of other luxury conglomerates in its commitment to full carbon neutrality, but other groups have their own initiatives in place. Richemont has been purchasing carbon offsets since 2008, while LVMH introduced a carbon fund across its brands in 2015 to calculate and offset greenhouse gas emissions generated by its businesses. “Such an approach reaffirms how Kering is one of the companies leading the way in sustainability, and I hope other brands and retailers will follow,” writes Eva Kruse, CEO and president of the Global Fashion Agenda, via email.

But an overreliance on offsetting can be seen as sidestepping a larger issue.

“With this level of urgency [we need] a commitment policy on reduction, not just of carbon and fumes, but also of production,” says de Castro. “We need to disinvest from growth to invest in social and environmental supply chain prosperity and compliance.”
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Fashion leaders to meet at G7 summit to improve sustainability, from H&M to Gucci

Fashion brands including Gucci and H&M will meet at the G7 summit this weekend in a global pact to fight the climate change crisis and improve sustainability.
The summit will see 32 fashion leaders, including Francois-Henri Pinault, the chief executive of Kering, and the owner of Zara’s parent company, Inditex, meet in Biarritz, France.
The coalition, otherwise known as “The Fashion Pact”, also includes brands such as Adidas, Burberry, Chanel, H&M, Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney.

Representatives said its objectives draw on the Science-Based Targets (SBT1) initiative, which focuses on action in three essential areas for safeguarding the planet – stopping global warming, restoring biodiversity and protecting the oceans.
“The idea of engaging at the G7 level is also around getting the commitment at the governmental level to address these types of concerns with a sense of urgency,” Michael Beutler, director of sustainability operations at Kering, told Vogue Business last month.

The meeting comes months after French President Emmanuel Macron called on Pinault to bring together a group of brands to set unified sustainability goals for the sector.
“We have to work collectively,” Pinault told the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in May. “It’s about a few leaders who are willing to put themselves in an uncomfortable situation to force themselves to move.”
In recent months, Pinault has worked to bring together a coalition of industry leaders wanting to come together and set goals to reduce the industry’s negative impact on the environment.
“The mandate is really to move the sector,” Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability officer, added. “The G7 is a starting point.”

Kering has been a key leader when it comes to addressing the industry’s sustainability issues.
In May, the global luxury fashion company – which manages brands including Saint Laurent, Gucci and Balenciaga – published new animal welfare standards that included a list of requirements for the treatment of cattle, calves, sheep and goats throughout their entire lives, as well as guidelines for abattoirs.

In addition, it pledged to stop hiring models under the age of 18 on its catwalk and in advertising campaigns.

“We are conscious of the influence exerted on younger generations in particular by the images produced by our houses,” Pinault said at the Copenhagen summit. “We believe that we have a responsibility to put forward the best possible practices in the luxury sector and hope to create a movement that will encourage others to follow.”
The policy will come into effect early next year, in time for the autumn/winter collections.
Last month, Inditex announced a pledge to use purely sustainable fabric in its clothing by 2025 as part of a wider strategy focusing on sustainability.

The company aims for all cotton, linen and polyester used by the group to be organic, sustainable or recycled by 2025.
“Sustainability is a neverending task in which everyone here at Inditex is involved and in which we are successfully engaging all of our suppliers,” said chief executive Pablo Isla.
Moreover, the company stated that 80 per cent of the energy used in running the company (stores, logistics centres and offices) should be renewable by 2022.

As for recycling, the fashion conglomerate will supply all stores with containers to collect clothes and a pick-up service – already active in China and Spain – at home to be expanded to Paris, London and New York later this year.
The news came amid the formation of a new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to analyse sustainability in the clothing and textiles industry in the UK.
With the new APPG, which is supported by sustainability charity Hubbub, MPs from all political backgrounds will come together to review supply chains, materials used, and consumer behaviours.


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