Fruit of the Loom is among clothing brands and retailers on an international leaderboard of companies engaging with their suppliers on climate change.
The garment manufacturer is in the top 8% of the Supplier Engagement Rating list compiled each year by CDP, a not-for-profit organisation that runs a system for environmental impact disclosure.
Based on data from nearly 20,000 companies in 2022, the leaderboard also features Asos, Gap, Guess, Hanesbrands, Hugo Boss, JD Sports, Levi’s, LVMH, Moncler, Puma and Superdry.
Adam Wade, Fruit of the Loom International’s senior director of sustainability and risk management, said: “Fruit of the Loom Inc recognises truly meaningful reductions in our impact to the environment requires action down the entire supply chain.
“We make the majority of what we sell in our own facilities. However, we also source from other suppliers across the globe and work with them to ensure they meet our standards and commitments.”
Supply chain management is part of Fruit of the Loom’s efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions – those caused by activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organisation.
This includes a commitment to more operational efficiency in upstream supply chains, working with strategic suppliers to reduce energy use and increase the use of renewable electricity.
The group, whose brands included Russell Athletic and Russell Europe as well as Fruit of the Loom, is also mapping its supply chain through to raw materials and collaborating with the HIGG Facility Environmental Module (FEM) to ensure transparency on environmental metrics with key suppliers.
CDP assesses companies in the areas of governance, targets, ambition, management of Scope 3 emissions and supplier engagement. However, the CDP report revealed that many companies are still not doing enough to tackle climate change through working with their suppliers.
Sonya Bhonsle, global head of value chains at CDP, said: “This year’s report shows that environmental action is not happening at the speed, scale and scope required to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, with many companies still not acknowledging that their impact on the environment extends far beyond their operations and that of climate change.
“Therefore, we need to see environmental leadership from companies right now by tackling their impacts on climate change and nature together, working with their suppliers in an integrated way that includes nature as standard, and incentivising this engagement within their organisation.”
