Sustainable Apparel Coalition Joins Global Net Zero Workshop

Jeremy Lardeau, vice president Higg Index at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), joined the “Net Zero and Well-Being in Life” virtual workshop jointly organized by the G20 Presidency of India and the G7 Presidency of Japan, and hosted by Boston Consulting Group. The objective of the workshop was to share good practices on demand-side politics and business initiatives, fostering efforts to accelerate changes in consumer lifestyles and behaviors related to climate change and the environment. Attendees included governments, businesses, and organizations from G7/G20 countries and the European Union.

The panel was moderated by Makoto Morihara, Managing Director & Partner at Boston Consulting Group. In addition to Lardeau, it included Kawamata Kotaro, Director, International Strategy Division, Global Environment Bureau, MoE Japan; Nameeta Prasad, Joint Secretary to the Govt of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, India; Seema Arora, Deputy Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry; Nicolina Lamhauge, Coordinator, Environmental Policies, Social and Distributional Outcomes, OECD Environment Directorate; Kiwamu Inoue, Assistant Manager, External Relations Department, Tokyo office, DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD; Valérie TO, Project manager at the sustainable agriculture and food office, Department of the Commissioner General for sustainable development, Ministry for an Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, France; Frederico Akira Campos, Country Manager, Braskem Japan, Braskem; Claire Poole, CEO, Sport Positive; And Rohan Sheth, Chief of Staff, Olio Exchange Limited.

Lardeau presented an overview of the SAC’s Higg Index tools as a common sustainability performance language, then dove into the use of environmental footprint data for on-product claims and labels. He noted that environmental footprint labels may not be as effective to drive positive change up the supply chain, and referenced a 2020 Compare Ethics study which found that only 20 percent of consumers trust eco labels. Lardeau shared that beyond footprint data, consumer education and engagement is key to better environmental outcomes in the apparel industry. “We believe that over the long term, some well-intentioned design decisions and efforts not to overburden consumers with heavy or scientific terminology have resulted in communications which are not radically transparent or have allowed for lower levels of consumer literacy on important issues in product design or manufacturing,” Lardeau said. Finally, he warned that an unregulated space breeds potential for greenwashing, but also greenhushing, so it is paramount that effective and harmonized regulation provide certainty and credibility to product environmental claims.