The work forms a critical part of the three retailers’ own respective climate journeys, with each having already set ambitious reduction targets themselves through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The customised programme will be available to About You, YNAP and Zalando brand partners at no cost and is designed to explain the value and process behind setting climate targets. It will provide step-by step learning on how to unlock the journey of measuring emissions, set ambitious targets that align with climate science, and submit them for approval to the Science Based Targets initiative. It will also provide a dedicated space for fashion brands to engage with one another and with sustainability experts, the three companies said in a joint media release.
While each of the three online retailers are committed to reducing their own direct emissions significantly, between 70 per cent to 90 per cent of the fashion footprint comes from upstream supply chain activities, such as material production, preparation and processing. The initiative therefore serves two main goals: to scale climate action across the industry for a broader impact and systems transformation, whilst also contributing to reduction of the three online retailers’ own value chain (Scope 3) emissions.
“More than 1,500 companies had their targets approved by the SBTi as of July 2022. We have set science-based targets approved by the SBTi and are benefitting from our efforts now. 46.6 per cent of our partners on greenhouse gas emissions had their targets approved by February 2022. We invite the remaining business partners to do the same,” said Hannes Wiese, co-founder and co-CEO at About You.
“By collaborating with About You and Zalando, together we can drive a more consistent approach in our efforts towards reducing the emissions of luxury and fashion,” said Geoffroy Lefebvre, CEO at Yoox Net-A-Porter.
“Decarbonising supply chains in partnership with suppliers, brands, logistics, packaging partners and now also our competitors is a powerful lever for driving meaningful change in the fashion industry. We aim for 90 per cent of our partners (by emissions) to set science-based targets by 2025, and the new learning platform is a key initiative towards realising this ambitious goal,” added David Schneider, Co-CEO at Zalando.
The initiative, which is antitrust-compliant and run in collaboration with Quantis, a leading environmental sustainability consultancy with climate expertise, will be launched as a pilot with selected brand partners in Autumn 2022. In 2023, it will become available to all eligible brand partners.