What Fuels Fashion?’ is a special edition report of the Global Fashion Transparency Index. It has been designed to measure transparency of brand disclosure about climate and energy-related data in their own operations and supply chains. The research is broken down into five key themes, including: Accountability, Decarbonisation, Energy Procurement, Financing Decarbonisation and Just Transition and Advocacy.
200 of the world's largest fashion brands have been selected based on their annual turnover, over $1 billion USD and representing a spread of market segments including high street, luxury, sportswear, accessories, footwear and denim from across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Where brands are privately held, estimates have been made regarding their size and turnover. Geographic spread is considered too.
As climate change increases the frequency and severity of heatwaves, brands must take action to protect workers in their supply chains from heat stress. Installing air conditioning or other cooling systems in facilities is crucial for safeguarding worker health and safety. Brands should disclose their investments in climate adaptation measures, including the installation of cooling systems in factories.
Brands should disclose:
- Total investment in climate adaptation measures, particularly cooling systems, to mitigate heat stress.
- The geographic regions and/or named facilities where these adaptations have been implemented.
We only award points for publicly disclosed information on the brand or parent company's own website. This means information disclosed on:
• Sustainability/CR microsite, provided there is a direct web link to it from the main brand or parent company website;
• In annual reports or annual sustainability/CSR reports (only counted if dated January 2023 or later) published on the brand or parent company website;
• In any other documents which are publicly available and can be downloaded freely from the brands' website; or
• Via external, third party websites but only when there is a direct web link from the brand or parent company's website to the third party website (e.g. Bangladesh Accord, Better Work, CDP, FLA, ETI, BSCI/amfori websites) where specific disclosures can be found.
The methodology is based on existing international standards and benchmarks such as: SDGs, ETI Base Code, UNGPs, OECD Due Diligence Guidelines, Fair Labor Association’s Freedom of Association guidelines, the GhG Protocol, CDP, Climate Action 100+ among others. It has also been developed to align with other industry benchmarks and relevant initiatives including the Transparency Pledge, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, the Open Data Standard for the Apparel Sector and the World Benchmarking Alliance.