Textiles

This report analyses 3,900 companies across the textile supply chain, arguing retailers need to be engaging with suppliers and manufacturers more actively to help them as they work to reduce emissions. A significant mismatch between financial value and emissions in the textiles industry exists – with fabric manufacturers and producers responsible for 76% of textile’s impact on climate , but only 7% of its market capitalisation.

Analysis from Planet Tracker finds over half of textile companies have no link between executive pay and sustainability goals, a key driver of credible action. Only two companies out of the 30 top textile brands – Adidas and Puma – have clear annual sustainability-linked objectives and reporting for executive pay programmes.

Textile industry shareholder meetings need increased focus on Environmental proposals. Of the 1,198 ESG proposals submitted to the annual shareholder meetings of retailers in the Planet Tracker universe since 2015, only 2% were environmental proposals. Key industry issues, such as fibre mix are not raised in shareholder meetings. Investigations found no proposals which included key terms such as fibre, biodiversity, deforestation and synthetic, suggesting that these crucial topics are being neglected.

Traceability – the ability to gain detailed insight into the supply chain – enables companies to better measure and improve their environmental and social impact. This report has found that companies without traceability systems are missing out on a net profit enhancement of 3 to 7% – the equivalent of approximately USD 3 to 6 billion per year for a company earning USD 80 billion per annum.

Investors have a huge opportunity to generate impressive investment returns while making a significant difference to the planet by facilitating a key environmental transition for wet processors. This new report explains the financial gains that can be made by investing in processes that lower the environmental footprint of wet processing.