💸🔦 This week’s corporate CDR buyer spotlight: @ H&M Group 💸🔦

The Swedish fashion retailer H&M Group is the second largest international clothing retailer, with over 4,000 stores in more than 70 markets and online sales in 60 markets. #Fashion is the third largest polluting industry – after food and construction – accounting for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (#GHGs). It releases 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, more than the shipping and the aviation industry combined. As such, commitments by this industry can have tremendous implications for reaching global climate targets.

What are H&M Group’s climate commitments?

🎯H&M Group’s long-term ambition is to reach #netzero as defined by the Science Based Targets initiative (#SBTi), and have committed to reducing their absolute GHG emissions across their value chain by 56% by 2030 and by at least 90% by 2040 (against a 2019 baseline).

💰Internally, H&M Group has an annual budget of SEK 3 billion (over €254 million) to support projects to reduce its emissions throughout the whole value chain. Externally, H&M Group is the lead funder of the Fashion Climate Fund by the Apparel Impact Institute, driving collective action to tackle supply chain GHG emissions.

⚡H&M Group is actively supporting its suppliers in adopting energy saving measures and transitioning to renewable energy sources through phasing out coal, using green electricity across their European operations, and advocating governments for #renewableenergy.

What is H&M Group’s carbon dioxide removal (#CDR) buyer strategy?

☁️H&M Group recognises the important role that CDR has in achieving net-zero over the coming decades. Under the SBTi they have committed to balancing out the remaining 10% of unavoidable emissions to reach net-zero by 2040 through CDR.

💨H&M Group has signed a multi-year CDR agreement with Climeworks, covering the removal of 10,000 tonnes of CO2, hoping to play a catalytic role in building the CDR market.

🌳H&M Group supports the LEAF (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance) Coalition to protect tropical forests, an important existing carbon sink.

Overall, I am impressed by the efforts of H&M Group. Admittedly, we should all simply consume less fashion and reduce the overall footprint of this industry. Still, I personally appreciate the efforts of any company - regardless of the sector - in trying to balance their own footprint and helping scale CDR.

📢Shoutout to the people at H&M who are shaping the company’s climate commitments, including:

Leyla Ertur, Helena Helmersson, Hendrik Alpen, Henrik Sundberg, Negin Farhadi, Mikael Blommé

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