Global nonprofit Cascale has updated the Higg Brand and Retail Module (Higg BRM), a cornerstone of the Higg Index suite of tools, to better align with evolving sustainability regulation.
- The Higg BRM has been updated to enhance its alignment with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), providing a comprehensive approach to tracking sustainability progress and also offering support on Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements.
- With this update, Cascale has expanded the Higg BRM guidance and refined terminology to improve consistency with ESRS disclosure requirements while adding 36 new unscored optional questions to ensure more complete disclosures without impacting comparability to prior Higg BRM assessments.
- The Higg BRM now covers up to 78% of ESRS data points, with the remaining content related to financial topics beyond its scope (15%), or non-material matters (7%).
WHITE PAPER: In addition, Cascale has published a white paper that outlines the alignment between the Higg BRM and ESRS, helping companies understand how the tool can support CSRD reporting obligations.
- The white paper provides a structured breakdown of the Higg BRM to ESRS alignment, examines ESRS 1 and ESRS 2, and explains how the Higg BRM supports key concepts such as double materiality or establishing a governance framework. It also covers Topical Standards, offering key insights into ESG areas specific to textile, apparel, and footwear industry.
THE TOOL: The Higg BRM 2024 update also introduces tags on the Worldly platform to easily map ESRS data points with Higg BRM questions.
- The tool remains aligned with key industry frameworks, including the Textile Exchange’s Material Benchmark and the ZDHC Brands to Zero programme, and continues to offer benchmarking capabilities and year-over-year tracking of short-term and long-term sustainability goals to drive impactful change.
- CSRD is widely recognised as one of the leading frameworks for brands and retailers in the textile, apparel, and footwear industry to track and measure Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance.
- The Higg BRM empowers users to build consistent strategies while avoiding duplication across multiple sustainability initiatives. It is part of Cascale’s Higg Index suite of tools, which are exclusively available on Worldly, the leading sustainability data insights platform for consumer goods.
WHAT THEY SAID:
We have updated the Higg BRM to enhance its alignment with ESRS. This is a powerful resource that empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions. We encourage brands and retailers to leverage the full potential of the Higg BRM as a supporting tool in their reporting journey under CSRD.
Maravillas Rodriguez Zarco
Sr Director, Higg Index Strategy and Operations
Cascale
