According to a document drafted by experts from London-based sustainability consultancy Little Blue Research and the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), as nature is declining at an unprecedented rate, posing a direct threat to all human society and economic activity, business failure to act in the face of this crisis will risk operational longevity, with the fashion, textile, and apparel industry particularly vulnerable.
Environmental changes will reshape competitive advantages for all enterprises, investors, and governments over the next 10 years, according to the report, with access to natural resources radically redefining these advantages.
The fashion, textile, and garment business, a sophisticated, multi-trillion-dollar industry, both contributes to and is particularly sensitive to these transformations, with its supply chains and operations largely dependent on them.
This reliance will only grow—the garment sector already earns $1.5 trillion in sales each year and is predicted to reach $2 trillion by 2027.
Science-based nature objectives provide a method for businesses to take action to maintain operational resilience while also addressing the broader challenges related to corporate impacts on nature.
This primer introduces the freshly introduced science-based nature objectives and their use in the fashion, textile, and clothing industries.
The publication, titled ‘Raising the Ambition for Nature: A Fashion, Textile, and Apparel Sector Primer on the First Science-Based Targets for Nature,’ was created with the help of the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), The Fashion Pact, Conservation International, and Textile Exchange. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) provided funding.
SBTN’s techniques for setting science-based objectives for nature complement and improve on the Science Based objectives initiative’s (SBTi) methods for setting science-based targets for the climate.
Businesses can include both objectives in their strategy, achieve cost reductions, and enhance innovations that are win-win for both environment and climate, according to the paper.
The sector can begin preparing for the adoption of science-based targets for nature now to guarantee credible targets and strategies to deliver on them are in place, according to the report.
As a starting step, the booklet offers seven concrete measures that businesses, regardless of where they are on their sustainable journey, may do to help alleviate nature loss.
These include determining which are the most material and where they occur in the business’s operations and across its value chain; understanding the data the business has access to and the gaps; and beginning to trace material sourcing back to the regional, farm, or site level for one product/unit, initially focusing on the most material impacts.
Businesses can also mobilize change by joining groups like the Corporate Engagement Program or Business for Nature, which put businesses at the forefront of developments and allow them to contribute, test, learn, and share their experiences with technical experts, according to the document.
