Burberry speeds up green goals, to be "climate positive" by 2040

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 10, 2021

Burberry said on Thursday that it would be “climate positive by 2040”, the new sustainability ambition making it the first luxury brand to aim for that target, it added.

The company said this takes it further than its current 2040 net-zero target “by investing in key initiatives to support wider climate change efforts beyond its value chain”.

On the way to its new target, it will be cutting emissions across its extended supply chain by 46% by 2030 and developing projects that “support others in their own carbon journeys”.

At the same time, the company announced its support for the Fashion Avengers. This is a coalition of global fashion organisations “that have come together to inspire action towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

CEO Marco Gobbetti said the company aims to be “a force for good in the world. By strengthening our commitment to sustainability, we are going further in helping protect our planet for generations to come”.

Looking at the detail of the new pledge, that aim to reduce emissions across its extended supply chain by 46% by the end of this decade sees it accelerating its previous target of 30%. It means Burberry’s Science Based Targets will be aligned to the 1.5°C pathway set out in the Paris Agreement.

It will also be accelerating low-carbon future solutions and investing in nature-based projects with carbon benefits beyond its own operations. That means initiatives like investing in programmes that protect and restore natural ecosystems that remove carbon from the atmosphere. And it will be funding “climate resilience projects that empower vulnerable, frontline communities to adapt to changing realities and protect livelihoods”.

It also aims to become an “active advocate” for what it will take to transform the fashion industry.

The Burberry Regeneration Fund that it set up last year will be key to all of this as it supports a portfolio of verified carbon offsetting and insetting projects. For its inaugural insetting project, Burberry is partnering with PUR Projet to implement a regenerative agricultural programme with wool producers in Australia.