Nonprofit Textile Exchange has come up with a guidance on Science-Based Targets for Nature that will help companies in the fashion, apparel, and textile industry set their own science-based targets for nature.
- Brands and retailers need to go beyond greenhouse gas emissions and establish more holistic impact goals, unlocking the critical progress toward more sustainable raw material production that can come from this approach.
THE GUIDANCE ON SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS FOR NATURE helps translate these methods, supporting the uptake of nature-related targets.
- It is designed to help brands and retailers implement primarily Step 3 of the science-based targets for nature framework as it relates to raw material production.
- It provides users with practical steps and general considerations to get started, along with specific tips to navigate the two most relevant target-setting areas for the industry: freshwater and land.
- Effectively addressing these areas can help the industry address its ecological footprint, contribute to biodiversity conservation, and support the regeneration of natural systems. This aligns with Textile Exchange’s Climate+ strategy, which states that nature-related impact areas such as biodiversity, freshwater, and soil health should always be considered alongside greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
- Moving toward nature-positive principles in the fashion, apparel, and textiles industry, including the use of science-based targets for nature, will involve rethinking the entire supply chain—from raw material sourcing to production, consumption, and end-of-life management. This is by no means an easy task and requires supply chain stakeholders to support and align across all tiers and levels.
- By doing so, the industry can reduce its ecological footprint, contribute to biodiversity conservation, and support the regeneration of natural systems, aligning its economic activities with the broader goal of a nature-positive future.
- The textile industry’s reliance on both fossil and land-based raw materials directly impacts natural ecosystems. Alongside the overwhelmingly negative impacts of virgin fossil-based synthetics, common land-based materials can either disrupt or restore nature, depending on how they are managed.
- It is a key opportunity for the industry, with fibres and materials including cotton and leather now listed on the Science Based Targets Network’s (SBTN) list of High-Impact Commodities — which considers their potential worst-case scenario pressures on areas like climate, land, water, and soil.
- In contrast, these can all form part of regenerative systems that restore nature and biodiversity, giving the industry significant leverage on its impact just by changing how its materials are produced.
- The formal introduction of science-based targets for nature by the SBTN in 2024 gave brands a common methodology to address these areas. However, setting effective nature targets requires granular, location-specific data and heightened supply chain visibility, resulting in complex processes that demand industry-specific guidance and support.
ABOUT THE SCIENCE BASED TARGETS INITIATIVE: The Science Based Targets initiative was launched in 2015 and is an organisation that provides standards, tools, and guidance to companies and financial institutions.
- The Science Based Targets network was established in 2019, building on the success of SBTi, to develop science-based nature targets so companies and cities can comprehensively address their environmental impacts across biodiversity, land, freshwater, and oceans.
- These targets are in addition to the climate targets that companies and financial institutions can set through the SBTi.
