The Apparel Impact Institute (AII) has opened its first call for applications for the Climate Solutions Portfolio, a soon-to-launch registry of proven carbon reduction solutions for the fashion industry.
- The Climate Solutions Portfolio will be a data-backed tool to deploy grants from the catalytic Fashion Climate Fund, designed to raise $250M to de-risk and accelerate proven decarbonisation solutions, unlock up to $2B of capital, and help to halve carbon emissions by 2030.
- It will also serve as a public, transparent resource for brands, retailers, industry stakeholders, and external commercial financing partners looking to accelerate decarbonisation efforts.
- The Climate Solutions Portfolio will be live to the public in July 2023, at which time Aii will announce its first funded solutions through the Fashion Climate Fund.
The Process: The first round of applications, which opened on 31 January and will close in March 2023, is focused on solutions for materials, product innovations, energy efficiency improvements, and coal phase out via renewable thermal heat and renewable energy, with subsequent, biannual rounds to be focused on additional levers for carbon reduction.
- To be eligible, organisations of any size and stage must submit high quality, verified data or estimates that demonstrate quantifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions around their solutions through the rigorous, strategically developed intake application.
The Funds: Starting in June 2022, a slate of projects from the Climate Solutions Portfolio will begin to receive grants, estimated to range from $50,000 to $250,000 per year, from AII's Fashion Climate Fund based on effectiveness, reach, scale, and cost. This represents the first deployed capital from the Fund, which launched in June 2022 and currently marks Target, PVH Corp., Lululemon, H&M Group, H&M Foundation, and The Schmidt Family Foundation as lead funders.
- The intake application for the Climate Solutions Portfolio was designed by AII's new CSP Advisory Council of industry leaders: scientist and consultant Linda Greer; Phil Patterson, Managing Director at Colour Connections Textile Consultancy; Beth Jensen, Director+ Climate Impact at Textile Exchange; Crispin Wong, Senior Director of Product Sustainability and Environment from Lululemon; and Mallory McConnell, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at PVH Corp.
- The CSP Advisory Council will also guide the deployment of capital into new solutions from the Fashion Climate Fund. It will tap additional subject matter experts as needed to fully and fairly evaluate applications.
What They Said:
The Climate Solutions Portfolio, led by our CIO and Advisory Council, is furthering AII's mission to identify, fund, scale, and measure the apparel and footwear industry's proven environmental impact solutions. We believe this tool will not only allow AII to best evaluate solutions, it will also give the entire industry greater transparency into the climate related programmes at work in the supply chain.
— Lewis Perkins
President
Apparel Impact Institute
Some of the biggest industry challenges for effective carbon reduction are identifying science-based solutions, ensuring they are credible and prioritising them for widespread adoption. Our aim with the Climate Solutions Portfolio is to complement our current global efforts and find, fund, and report on climate impact solutions in a consistent, transparent way — for both our Fashion Climate Fund and the industry at large.
— Kurt Kipka
Chief Impact Officer
Apparel Impact Institute
