There is growing awareness among stakeholders in the apparel sector about the social and environmental sustainability challenges facing the industry's complex value chains. This is due to the sector’s global distribution and diverse range of sources and raw materials, manufacturing processes and consumer markets. And, with this awareness comes the pressure to take action.
Areas of Engagement
In 2015, IUCN and Hugo Boss agreed to collaborate to gain a better understanding of the dependence and impacts of the company’s main product value chains (apparel and accessories) on biodiversity and ecosystem services. They also identified potential opportunities for mitigating negative impacts to biodiversity and ecosystem services across the value chains.
On other fronts, as a founding member of the Natural Capital Coalition, IUCN participated in the development of the Natural Capital Protocol, which provides a standardised framework for business to measure and value their direct and indirect impacts and dependencies on natural capital.
IUCN led a consortium of organisations on the business outreach for the Protocol, as well as on the development of two sector guides – one on Apparel and another on Food & Beverage.
For more information on IUCN's work with the Apparel sector, visit the Resources section of our website.
