Zalando and Fast Retailing boost sustainability commitments

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 15, 2020

Zalando has announced that it’s partnering with Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the leadership forum for industry collaboration on fashion sustainability. It’s joining up as Associate Partner, together with TAL Apparel and VF Corporation. 

GFA is the group behind initiatives, such as the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the CEO Agenda and the Pulse of the Fashion Industry Report, with an overall focus on driving greater sustainability in the fashion sector.

Zalando co-CEO David Schneider said of its latest move that it wants to be a “sustainable fashion platform with a net-positive impact for people and the planet. This means constantly improving our own business and making it easy for customers to spot and shop more sustainable fashion. We are collaborating with strong partners to face the fundamental sustainability issues of our industry and shape a more sustainable future for fashion”.

The company’s news comes a day after another retail giant, Japan-based Fast Retailing, said it has signed the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, sponsored by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

The charter supports the goals of the Paris Agreement in limiting global temperature rise to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. For the fashion industry, it focuses on pushing through a 30% aggregate reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, including the supply chain.

The Uniqlo owner has been implementing measures to determine and reduce the volume of GHG emissions from all its business activities, from procurement of raw materials to manufacturing processes, distribution, and store operations. 

And it said that by signing the charter, it will “further strengthen such measures as procurement of sustainable materials, reducing the environmental load in the manufacturing process, and promoting dialogue with consumers and raising awareness, as well as accelerate coordination throughout the industry to reduce GHG emissions”.