Recent research published by the World Benchmarking Alliance reveals the nature related disclosures and strategies of 816 companies across 20 industries. Compared with agriculture, chemicals, packaging and other sectors – where does the apparel and footwear industry stand? “When you review the best and worst performing industries, there is no indication that at a macro level, companies are stepping up on nature.” shares Jenni Black, nature transformations lead at WBA.
, to be held later this month, implementation strategies on nature, regenerative practices and responsible supply chains are being brought into sharp focus. Casting a spotlight on SHEIN, who scored 5.8 out 100, little evidence exists on the company’s movement towards assessing impacts on nature or setting targets for conservation and restoration.
Now the archetype of extractive fast fashion practices, SHEIN failed to incur any points whatsoever for key areas that support nature and biodiversity including soil health, water quality and protecting key species. When there is disclosure, the benchmark reveals performance on critical indicators, like soil health, remain low. Only 1 organisation, M&S, disclosed quantitative evidence for soil health.
What’s more, only LVMH provided a soil health related target. “Regenerative agriculture is not really on the agenda yet. We identified that only 13% of apparel companies provided some qualitative evidence of trying to improve soil health and biodiversity in sour.
