Talking Fashion's Climate Challenges with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana

2020 has been a year of disruption for the fashion industry. Looking toward the future, the question on many brands’ minds is: How do we build back better?

The answer is clear: ambitious climate action.

Momentum around this idea is gathering in fashion. In recent years, a growing number of initiatives, such as the Fashion Pact, the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and the Apparel and Footwear Sector Science-Based Target Guidance have emerged to deliver on this vision. But the how can leave many brands feeling bewildered. It’s not always clear which direction to follow and what steps to take.

To bring clarity, the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (National Chamber of Italian Fashion), a non-profit organization that regulates, coordinates and promotes the development of Italian fashion, invited Quantis to lead a webinar for its members exploring the concrete actions brands can take to shape bold climate strategies and drive sustainable transformation.

Download the webinar slides

“Setting science-based goals makes total business sense. It demonstrates leadership; it supports growth while mitigating risks; it fosters internal engagement; and it creates space for innovation.”

Michela Gioacchini
Quantis Senior Sustainability Consultant

First things first: what does a successful climate strategy look like?

Before leaping into action, brands first need to understand the elements that are essential to a successful climate journey:

Robust metrics
Ambitious science-based goals
Relevant action plan
Internal buy-in
Climate communications strategy

Just as a pattern ensures that garments are made to specification with a minimal margin of error, these elements set expectations and act as a guide to ensure that brands’ climate strategies are robust and lead to meaningful actions with real impact.

From bold commitments to science-driven actions

There are four key actions that will allow apparel brands to move the needle forward on their climate journey: Measure, Understand, Manage and Communicate.

Your climate journey starts with assessing your hotspots and building the business case for science-based action. Once you have buy-in from your leadership, you set targets, build a roadmap to achieve those targets, get your operations teams on board, and, finally, implement your action plan, monitoring and adjusting as you go. Throughout the process, you’ll want to communicate with internal and external stakeholders to build trust, generate buy-in and accelerate positive change.

Wondering what stage of the climate journey your company is at? Here are are some key questions fashion players can ask themselves to find out:

Measure: How are you approaching your Scope 3 footprint? What is your energy consumption
Understand: Did you benchmark other players? Is your company familiar with Science-Based Targets?
Manage: Is your action plan in place? Have you set your SBTs?
Communicate: What’s your 1-year Fashion communication? Who is onboard internally?

Need more insight? Get in touch with our team to define where your company is at in the sustainability journey and define your next steps.

Want to learn more? Here’s a collection of resources to help you navigate the process:

Webinars

30 | 06 | 20

Webinar

Let’s talk about climate strategy: How to shape effective narratives...

Join Quantis and brand partners GORE-TEX and Arla Foods as they clarify key climate terms, share insights for effectively engaging internal teams on your climate...

05 | 05 | 20

Webinar

Absolute Zero: A climate strategy for business resilience

Join Quantis and partners Microsoft and Gold Standard as we reveal the latest in science-backed climate strategies.

28 | 08 | 19

Webinar

Moving the needle: how to set bold climate targets to drive transforma...

Join experts from World Resources Institute + ASICS Corporation + Quantis to gain sector-specific insights on the climate target-setting journey for apparel + footwear companies.