The Future Supplier Initiative provides a collective financing mechanism to enable deep decarbonisation in the garment sector. It is facilitated by The Fashion Pact in cooperation with the garment Impact Institute, Guidehouse, and DBS Bank.
Several of the largest fashion brands in the world have teamed together to take part in the inventive project aimed at decarbonising the fashion industry with commitments from Bestseller, Gap Inc., H&M Group, and Mango to an initial programme that will take place in Bangladesh.
The Future Supplier Initiative aims to accelerate the transition to net zero by sharing the financial risks and responsibilities of switching to renewable energy sources in Tier-1 and Tier-2 garment and textile factories, where the supply chain accounts for an estimated 99 per cent of total emissions from fashion brands (Scope 3).
The initiative is a brand-agnostic mechanism that will develop and finance projects to support both brands and suppliers to meet their Science Based Targets (SBTs) and stay within the 1.5-degree trajectory.
A combination of technical support and financial incentives will be used to help overcome the barriers that prevent many factories from adopting electrification and renewable energy solutions.
The Future Supplier Initiative is actively recruiting more brands, intending to expand to other key apparel manufacturing regions including Vietnam, India, China, Italy and Turkey.
The cohort’s initial year will involve prioritising factories according to their impact, developing technical recommendations for deep decarbonisation, and de-risk lending to suppliers so they may carry out these projects at more affordable rates. The second year of the initiative will be devoted to project execution and tracking the climatic impact that these investments have generated.
The Future Supplier Initiative intends to assist brands and their supply chains in accomplishing their short-term Science Based Targets by 2030 by expanding the program’s brands and geographic reach.
