#Sustainability
H&M Group amongst highest scoring brands in Transparency Index 2021
We are proud, that our work for greater transparency in the fashion industry is recognized by third parties, such as Fashion Revolution and the Fashion Transparency Index. We believe brands should be accountable for their value chain and more industry wide transparency commitments will help to drive real, positive change and ultimately a more sustainable fashion industry.
Leyla Ertur, Head of Sustainability at H&M Group
H&M Group is committed to increasing transparency across the fashion industry. Not only does transparency empower businesses to make better decisions that will ultimately drive more sustainable operations, it also empowers customers to make more informed decisions about what they are buying. As such we are very proud to be once be again ranked as one of the highest scoring brands in the 2021 Fashion Transparency Index.
Transparency has always been a key part of H&M Groups sustainability strategy and something we have been actively engaged in for many years. In 2013, we published our supplier list online and we were the first global fashion retailer to do so. It shows factory names and addresses of all our manufacturing suppliers. Today, it also covers many factories that are subcontracted by our suppliers for tasks such as washing, embroidery or printing as well as the many fabric and yarn mills. Our ambition is of course to disclose further information about our supply chain and we are continuously working to improve this.
In another step towards greater transparency we also recently joined the Green Consumption Pledge Initiative, initiated by the European Commission. We have thereby committed to further disclose information on our work and results related to our strategy to become circular and climate positive, setting clear goals and being transparent about our achievements.
Another key element of our transparency journey is our work with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition – a global alliance which we became a founding member of in 2010 – who are working to create an industry standard for measuring and communicating the sustainability performance of facilities, brands/retailers and products. This long-term work has resulted in the launch of a first version of the Higg Index Sustainability Profile on selected H&M products on hm.com in Europe and the US at the beginning of this year. The on-product profiles share environmental performance scores for materials and is based on independently verified environmental impact data from the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI).
We believe that supply chain disclosure and visibility of where our products and materials come from and their impact on the environment and society, are key for achieving a more sustainable value chain. The more we know about our suppliers’ performance — and that of their suppliers — the greater our ability to target improvements, collaborate across the industry and create long-term change. While transparency itself should not be seen as the end goal, we recognize that transparency is a vital enabler to reach many of our long-term sustainability goals.
