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After two rather quiet years, the Fashion Pact<\/strong> is moving forward again. The industry CEO-led cross-industry alliance, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron<\/strong> in 2019 and led by Kering<\/strong> Chairman and CEO Fran\u00e7ois-Henri Pinault<\/strong>, has more than doubled its membership of fashion and luxury players (now 75) and is rolling out a program of new environmental initiatives. Launched at the G7 summit<\/strong> in France, this agreement marked the commitment of the signatory brands to support climate and nature, achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and reduce their impact on the oceans.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first of these new initiatives is a collective virtual power purchase agreement (CVPPA)<\/strong> aimed at expanding the use of renewable energy in Europe. It would acquire new renewable energy capacity in the immediate future, and kick-start a broader energy transition across the fashion industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This is a proof of concept. It’s important in itself, but it’s just the beginning,”<\/em> Pinault told Vogue Business<\/strong><\/em>. “We needed to have results to show that collective action is possible. We are going to expand it – we already have some players outside the Fashion Pact who want to join – and we are also going to expand it to other regions. We need to use it to accelerate, expand and scale, but it’s important to show that it works.”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ve been quiet, but there’s been a lot going on in the background. We’ve identified key areas that we want the industry to align with – biodiversity, climate and oceans – and on those, we’ve defined an approach on how we can really work together to make a difference on the ground,”<\/em> also said Eva von Alvensleben<\/strong>, the executive director of sustainability and secretary general of the Fashion Pact. “The CVPPA is one of those projects.”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We know that joint efforts and funding are key to finding scalable solutions. With the CVPPA, this is the first time the fashion industry has come together in a collective effort to add capacity to the renewable energy grid and secure a volume load of renewable electricity to move towards our goal.”<\/em> testifies Stefan Larsson<\/strong>, CEO of PVH<\/strong>, parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The CVPPA is not the only project to come into being. Another project will be dedicated to expanding the supply of regeneratively grown feedstocks.<\/strong> “The challenge in our supply chain right now is that we just don’t have the supply for these feedstocks, as much as we’d like to increase them. I think the current supply of organic cotton is 3% of the total supply, which is absolutely not enough,”<\/em> explains Eva von Alvensleben<\/strong> (Fashion Pact).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The coalition<\/strong> aims to establish a system to both help farmers switch to regenerative organic practices and to develop a methodology to account for the carbon credits resulting from these efforts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Under the oceans pillar, the focus will be on plastic polybag and wet processing, which a scientific analysis commissioned by the Fashion Pact identified as the main source of the industry’s impact on the oceans.<\/strong> The idea would be to work hand in hand with suppliers to adopt more sustainable techniques or develop alternatives.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The third pillar is biodiversity<\/strong>. According to a report by the World Benchmarking Alliance<\/strong> published on Monday, only 5% of the 400 companies analyzed (in the fashion industry and other sectors) have conducted a scientific assessment to understand the impact of their activities on biodiversity. “This is the first time a coalition like ours has put biodiversity so high on its agenda. It’s a topic that the industry is not yet very advanced on,”<\/em> says von Alvensleben.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nThe ambitions of the Pact<\/h2>\n