A $250 million war chest to identify, fund and scale proven solutions to decarbonize the fashion supply chain just got a new backer.
PVH Corp. will join Lululemon, H&M Group, H&M Foundation and The Schmidt Family Foundation as the lead donor to the Climate Fashion “catalytic” Fund at the $10 million buy-in level, the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) revealed Thursday.
“Our company’s purpose, to empower brands that move fashion forward for good, is at the core of our multi-year growth plan and has guided us for many years,” Stefan Larsson, CEO of Calvin Klein and owner, said in a statement. Tommy Hilfiger. . “We know that collaboration and funding are essential to driving solutions that address the fashion industry’s contributions to climate change, and we’re proud to be supporting the Fashion Climate Fund in this work.”
Officially unveiled at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen in June, the Fashion Climate Fund is “strategically designed” to leverage industry, treasury and philanthropic funding to implement “fundamental” supply chain improvements, including transition to renewable energy, promotion of next generation materials. eliminating coal in production and increasing energy efficiency.
In doing so, the climate fund will also de-risk investment opportunities, allowing the industry to unlock around $2 billion in blended capital, including debt and equity, to meet its goal of halving carbon emissions until 2030.
For Aii president Lewis Perkins, PVH Corp’s participation is particularly important. Together with Gap Inc. and Target, the company helped create Aii with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.
“To me, that’s a testament to their confidence in our work,” he told Sourcing Journal. “It’s a huge leap in resources that they’re going to make and it’s a really big step forward for them in terms of addressing decarbonisation in their supply chain.”
It said it has made progress in developing the Climate Solutions Portfolio, an online registry of early, mid- and late-stage initiatives and best practices that can drive emissions reductions in the fashion supply chain. It is also finalizing the fund’s combined capital approach, building a carbon data collection system in the country and developing a “funds utilization” strategy for 2023.
“We’re referring to this as Year Zero, in a way, because we’re really creating the framework for using the funds, the way we set the criteria, the decision-making process of which solutions or projects will be funded – how that process happens”, he said. “We want to make sure we have a rigorous, data-driven, science-based approach.” Linda Greer, founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Clean by Design supply chain energy efficiency program, which now operates under the Aii umbrella, is a consultant.
Meanwhile, Aii will continue to channel funds into supplier carbon targeting and prioritization projects, Clean By Design efficiency programs and renewable energy pilots. Funding is still coming through its usual channels, Perkins said. Just because a company can’t drop $10 million on a flagship partnership doesn’t mean it can’t work to reduce its carbon, water and chemical use through Aii’s existing initiatives. It will take everyone to enter.
“That’s one of the main messages I want the industry to know,” he said. “We’ve had people call us and say, ‘Hey, I can’t make that level of contribution, but I want to increase what I’m doing or I want to start, but I’m on a budget. Can we start?’ We’re like “100 percent.” This is where we worked all the time.”
