“The creation of facility benchmarks should make it a topic where good performance is expected, terrible performance is no longer tolerated and excellent performance is rewarded. This will undoubtedly catalyse positive action by the industry,” he concluded.
Aii’s bid to create a benchmark for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from production facilities in the global fashion and textiles industry came about almost by chance. The organisation works to identify, fund, scale and measure solutions proven to decrease carbon emissions through its $250 million Fashion Climate Fund.
To assess applications for grants, Aii worked with industry experts, including Patterson, to develop a ‘Gas Map’ of where emissions are focused and a ‘Ready Reckoner’ tool to compare projects aimed at different processes.
Aii chief impact officer Kurt Kipka explained how that work led to new proposals to set GHG emissions target limits for textile and garment factories.
“The data in the Ready Reckoner tool has so many uses. Not only can we compare one project to another, regardless of tier or maturity in the supply chain, but now we see the opportunity to also compare production sites on how they’re performing against industry benchmarks based on their processes and location,” he said.
“As somebody who’s been working in this space for 15-plus years, whenever the idea of quantitative assessments regarding environmental processes comes up, we get the response that it’s too complicated.
I’m firmly confident we can get there, we can start to talk in numbers about carbon intensity
“I’m firmly confident that we can get there, we can start to talk in numbers about carbon intensity in particular, based on the data that we have.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that we have this nailed, but we have a perspective that allows for that conversation to start. We’ve been very open to anyone who wants to challenge these numbers.
“But this, to me, represents one of the biggest opportunities for this sector, not just in terms of what it means for the supply chain, but how it will help to advance the industry as a whole around climate or carbon-related projects.”
Kipka believes the project could provide the kind of credible benchmarking comparison to potentially unlock lending from financial institutions, a key part of Aii’s mission, as well as to help brands source more sustainably.
“Instead of saying, ‘I’m going to source my product from this facility for the next five years’. They can say, ‘I’m going to source from facilities that meet these criteria for the next five years’.”
The proposed emissions benchmark does not yet have a name, although Kipka favours a ‘does what it says on the tin’ title, such as ‘Carbon Intensity Benchmark’. Development will involve engagement with manufacturers, brands, and industry experts, as well as a public comment period.
For vertical factories or factories carrying out a range of processes – for example wet processing and garment production – a weighted average target would be determined in kilowatt-hour per kilogram (kWh/kg) which would then be converted to CO2 emissions.
When assessing facilities, it would take into account regional variations, such as whether energy is from renewable sources or coal-fired power stations, as well as how much energy is expended on different processes within the facility.
“We know that 80% of the industry’s emissions come from less than 20% of the supplier base, and that’s our target,” added Kipka. “And that’s why we’re not getting caught up in data quality concerns. Our focus is to have high quality data where it’s most needed, so we can set our strategies most appropriately.”
ZDHC pinpointed an opportunity to add target limits for water use in the textile and leather industry in the upcoming version 3.0 of its Wastewater Guidelines. The benchmarks are due to be published by the end of this year.
“The new version of the guidelines is a work in progress,” said ZDHC competence centres director Prasad Pant. “But we are planning to put industry norms for water consumption in those guidelines, and later on, put them in our implementation plan for suppliers to demonstrate at their factories.
