YNAP, About You and Zalando link up on new climate action initiative

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 20, 2022

A major new climate action initiative for fashion brands has just been launched with Yoox Net-A-Porter, Zalando and About You joining forces in what they say is a “unique industry collaboration”.

The three giant e-tailers are launching “a bespoke learning platform to support their brand partners in setting climate targets aligned with science”.

Their shared aim is to reduce carbon emissions within their value chains and across the fashion industry and they said the new move forms a critical part of their own respective climate journeys, with each having already set ambitious reduction targets themselves through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

What it means is a customised programme available to brand partners at no cost that will “explain the value and process behind setting climate targets”.

Included will be “step-by step learning on how to unlock the journey of measuring emissions, set ambitious targets that align with climate science, and submit them for approval”. There will also be “a dedicated space for fashion brands to engage with one another and with sustainability experts”.

The initiative is antitrust-compliant and run in collaboration with Quantis, a leading environmental sustainability consultancy with climate expertise. It will be launched as a pilot with selected brand partners this autumn and will be available to all eligible brand partners next year.

The partners also said they think it has the potential to become an industry-wide initiative.

In launching the new programme, the partners said that while they’re committed to reducing their own direct emissions, between 70% to 90% of the fashion footprint comes from upstream supply chain activities. That includes material production, preparation, and processing. 

The launch is aimed at directly targeting this issue. And they said that as well as helping the planet, companies reducing their carbon emissions are “future-proofing growth, adapting to a changing regulatory landscape, boosting investor confidence, and spurring innovation”. 

Hannes Wiese, co-founder and co-CEO at About You, said that over 1,500 companies had their targets approved by the SBTi as of July 2022 and 46.6% of its partners on greenhouse gas emissions had their targets approved by February 2022. 

And YNAP CEO Geoffroy Lefebvre added that the collaborative deal with Zalando and About You means they can all “drive a more consistent approach in our efforts towards reducing the emissions of luxury and fashion”.

David Schneider, co-CEO at Zalando, concluded: “Decarbonising supply chains in partnership with suppliers, brands, logistics, packaging partners and now also our competitors is a powerful lever for driving meaningful change in the fashion industry. We aim for 90% of our partners (by emissions) to set science-based targets by 2025, and the new learning platform is a key initiative towards realising this ambitious goal.”