- September 15, 2019
- FASHION + SHOPPING
Gucci Goes Carbon Neutral To Take On Climate Crisis
A new era of luxury fashion with positive environmental impact
Gucci has been on the eco-mission since 2017, also the time around when the talk of sustainability in fashion became mainstream. First, it announced that it would go fur-free followed by the announcement of ten-year sustainability plan along with Gucci Equilibrium to connect people, planet and purpose. But Gucci’s recent plans of having a fully carbon neutral supply chain by the end of September are the most impactful to date and certainly positions Gucci (and parent company Kering SA) as climate crisis leader within the industry.
“A new era of corporate accountability is upon us and we need to be diligent in taking all steps to mitigate our impacts, including being transparent and responsible for our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions across our supply chains,” said Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO of Gucci. And as the first priority in its carbon neutral approach, Gucci has implemented a series of initiatives around low-impact alternative and sustainable materials, sustainable sourcing, and manufacturing efficiencies to avoid and reduce its impacts across the supply chain. But as an equally immediate and important step, its upcoming Spring/Summer 2020 runway will be carbon neutral too and even the set of the show will be reused in their stores. And following their transparent approach, the company will continue to measure and monitor its full environmental impacts through the annual Environmental Profit and Loss (EP & L) account. Marco Bizzarri further added, “Gucci will continue to work in a smart and strategic way to avoid and reduce our impacts, while simultaneously investing in innovation as a driver for sustainability. However, in my view, this is just not enough nor will it happen fast enough given the sustainability challenges we are up against in our industry and the reality of our global climate and biodiversity crises. To address the need for urgent solutions, Gucci is setting an ambitious new precedent through our carbon neutral commitment. This is based on a clear strategy to ensure we account for all of our GHG emissions across our supply chain, act to first avoid, reduce and restore, and then offset the unavoidable emissions through important UN-backed REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) projects.”
While Gucci’s decision to entirely compensate for its GHG emissions reflect its long-term commitment to sustainability with a desire to encourage a more progressive approach to carbon neutrality, we need a collective corporate action to make a significant contribution to our nature and our society not just for the coming decade, but for our future generation as well. “Despite commendable commitments, currently the efforts we are making as a global community are not enough to stay within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and to become ‘net-zero’ by 2050. As businesses, we all need to be accountable and implement solutions that will proactively combat our dual challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss,” adds Marco Bizzarri.
Well, we are truly excited to see how this new era of carbon neutrality in the fashion industry unfolds to give us a climate positive pathway that brings brands and consumer together alike.
Hello! The Runway Square team is excited that you’re here and we would love to hear what you have to say about this story. Leave a comment below or holler at us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram :*