PARIS — Kering is diving into a detailed water use strategy to have a positive impact in key hotspots by 2035, and through its whole supply chain by 2050.
With the new “water positive” strategy, Kering aims to restore ecosystems where the group operates, to fight biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change.
“The need for responsible corporate water stewardship to stay within the planetary boundaries has never been more urgent. It is crucial that water commitments evolve from a reductions-only approach to become water-positive, regenerating and replenishing water and ecosystems associated with all business activities,” said Kering’s chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer Marie-Claire Daveu.
Related Articles
Markets
Will Trump Tariffs Help or Hurt U.S. Garment Workers?
Business
Paul Polman Reflects on Five Years of The Fashion Pact
“Kering’s Water-Positive Strategy has been designed to be transformative, and we will collaborate with local stakeholders to deliver measurable water-positive outcomes to enhance social, environmental and economic resilience and ultimately contribute to building up the availability of clean water for all,” she added.
First, the Balenciaga, Givenchy and Gucci parent company will focus on 10 priority locations, as well as establish “water resilience labs.” The company used the Science-Based Targets Network criteria to assess its impact, which homed in on Tuscany’s Arno basin — home to many Kering-owned and supplier tanneries — for its initial efforts.
You May Also Like
There Kering will launch its first Water Resilience Lab this fall, along with a stewardship program to support its suppliers in reducing water use and pollution. Under the plan, the group will reduce its water withdrawal from this basin by 21 percent by 2030 in its own factories as well as those of suppliers. It will also move to chrome-free and low impact tanning agents in directly operated tanneries by that date.
Suppliers will be encouraged to use waterless dyes or closed-loop technology such as cold batch dyeing or reverse osmosis processing.
Nine additional Water Resilience Labs will open over the next 10 years to collaborate with local communities and public authorities on supporting freshwater ecosystems. The dyeing, finishing and printing of textile processing “poses significant challenges in terms of water usage and pollution for the fashion industry,” the company said in its report.
Kering will also endeavor to shift its raw material sourcing to use more recycled fabrics and next-gen materials from startups the company has invested in through its Materials Innovation Lab. This includes its work in leather alternatives.
The company is working on a pilot program to create an industrial filter to avoid microfiber leakage, for example. The goal is to have 40 percent of its textiles incorporate recycled material by 2035.
Kering also vowed to increase its use of materials sourced from regenerative agriculture to four times its current level by 2035. Regenerative farming methods reduce pollution and help restore ecosystems.
Its India-based regenerative farming program, the Organic Cotton Accelerator, is currently supporting 2,000 small farmers to transition to organic and regenerative practices. The company will increase its sourcing from these farmers in the coming years.
The company’s analysis indicates that 66 percent of its water consumption takes place during the raw material production phase. With sourcing coming from diverse countries such as Argentina, India, Turkey, South Africa and Spain — all of which are facing water scarcity — the problem is not specific to one region.
Additional targets by 2030 include no conversion of natural ecosystems or deforestation; ensure 100 percent of its gold is sourced from mercury-free mines, and reduce its agricultural land footprint by 3 percent to a 2022 baseline.
