Levi Strauss & Co agree IFC deal to help meet carbon goals

A multi-million-pound co-operation agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has been signed by Levi Strauss & Co to assist the firm in meeting its science-based targets by 2025.


Levi Strauss & Co agree IFC deal to help meet carbon goals

Levi Strauss has announced a new co-operation agreement with the IFC to help meet their carbon targets

The £1.8m agreement with the IFC helps meet corporate sustainability objectives for Levi Strauss through following the IFC’s Partnership for Cleaner Textiles (PaCT) approach. This will see the IFC work with 42 designated suppliers and mills to reduce GHG emissions – and assist the suppliers with implementing renewable energy and water-saving interventions into their businesses.

This PaCT approach will be put in place across 10 countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Mexico, Lesotho, Colombia, Turkey, Egypt, and Vietnam. It follows trials of the co-operation project between the two organisations in six suppliers across four countries, which resulted in 20% emission reductions and a decrease in operating costs of $1m (791,000) across all the sites.

SBTi

The deal is seen by the firm as a “critical element” of achieving its science-based targets, which it rubbed stamped in August last year – especially around the commitment to reduce emissions in the global supply chain by 40% by 2025.

The targets, which have been approved under the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) were announced in its updated Climate Action Strategy 2025. Climate challenges have so far spurred more than 100 companies, including L’Oreal, Ikea, and Molson Coors, to set SBTI-verified goals aligning to 2C, while Tesco, BT, Carlsberg and most recently Burberry remain the only four corporations to have received verification for more ambitious goals in line with a 1.5C trajectory.

Speaking about the IFC move, VP of sustainability at Levi Strauss, Michael Kobori, said: “Across the corporate world, people are waking up to the fact that better sustainability performance drives better business performance.

“Vendors in resource-stressed countries have shown the ability to innovate based on conditions on the ground, but in some cases, they need some assistance to make it work. This program provides that assistance, which benefits not just those companies, but also people living in those communities, as well as LS&Co.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the IFC to help achieve our science-based climate targets and benefit our vendors and their communities,” said Liz O’Neill, executive vice president, global product and supply chain. “We hope this program can also benefit others in the apparel industry and help reduce our collective footprint.”

James Evison

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