About You, YOOX NET-A-PORTER and Zalando join forces to launch new climate action initiative for FASHION BRANDS

In a unique industry collaboration, the three online retailers are launching a bespoke learning platform to support their brand partners in setting climate targets aligned with science.

ABOUT YOU, YOOX NET-A-PORTER and ZALANDO are teaming up and taking action with a shared aim to reduce carbon emissions within their value chains and across the fashion industry. The three online retailers are launching an online learning platform to support their brand partners in setting targets aligned with science to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The work forms a critical part of the retailers’ own respective climate journeys, with each having already set ambitious reduction targets themselves through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The customised programme will be available to ABOUT YOU, YOOX NET-A-PORTER and ZALANDO brand partners at no cost and is designed to educate them on the value and process of climate targets. It will provide step-by step learning on how to unlock the complex journey of measuring emissions, set ambitious targets that align with climate science, and submit them for approval to the Science Based Targets initiative. It will also provide a dedicated space for fashion brands to engage with one another and sustainability experts.

While each of the three online retailers are committed to reducing their own direct emissions significantly, between 70% to 90% of the fashion footprint comes from upstream supply chain activities, such as material production, preparation, and processing. The initiative therefore serves two main goals: to scale climate action across the industry for a broader impact and systems transformation, whilst also contributing to reduction of the three online retailers’ own value chain (Scope 3) emissions.

Amid calls for industry players to take ambitious climate action, science-based targets validated by the SBTi are internationally recognised and provide companies with clearly defined pathways to reduce their carbon emissions while future-proofing growth, adapting to a changing regulatory landscape, boosting investor confidence, and spurring innovation. 

“We see an industry-changing momentum in aligning greenhouse gas emission reduction pathways with science. More than 1,500 companies had their targets approved by the SBTi as of July 2022. We have set science-based targets approved by the SBTi and are benefitting from our efforts now. 46.6% of our partners on greenhouse gas emissions had their targets approved by February 2022. We invite the remaining business partners to do the same”, stated Hannes Wiese, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at ABOUT YOU.

“Our commitment to climate action can only be realised through innovative partnership. This next step prioritises investing in brand partners at different stages in their climate journeys, supporting them to set their science-based targets. By collaborating with ABOUT YOU and ZALANDO, together we can drive a more consistent approach in our efforts towards reducing the emissions of luxury and fashion”, said Geoffroy Lefebvre, CEO at YOOX NET-A-PORTER.

“Decarbonizing supply chains in partnership with suppliers, brands, logistics, packaging partners and now also our competitors is a powerful lever for driving meaningful change in the fashion industry. We aim for 90% of our partners (by emissions) to set science-based targets by 2025, and the new learning platform is a key initiative towards realizing this ambitious goal”, says David Schneider, Co-CEO at Zalando.

The initiative, which is antitrust-compliant and run in collaboration with Quantis, a leading environmental sustainability consultancy with climate expertise, will be launched as a pilot with selected brand partners in Autumn 2022. In 2023, it will become available to any eligible brand partners. Looking forward, the three online retailers see potential for the platform to become an industry-wide initiative open to all interested fashion brands and retailers committed to ambitious climate action and creating a more sustainable future for fashion.