H&M, Lululemon Back $250 Million Fund to Decarbonize Fashion Supply Chain
Fashion sustainability-focused nonprofit Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) announced today the launch of a new $250 million Fashion Climate Fund, with lead funders including Lululemon, H&M Group, H&M Foundation, and the Schmidt Family Foundation.
The new fund aims to drive actions and solutions supporting the industry’s goal to halve emissions by 2030, with a particular focus on the supply chain, which accounts for the vast majority of the fashion industry’s emissions, according to Aii.
Ultimately, Aii said that it aims to unlock $2 billion in capital from sources including philanthropies, fashion brands, manufacturers, and debt and equity investors, with a goal to remove up to 150 million tonnes of CO2 from the apparel supply chain.
Lewis Perkins, President of Aii, said:
“We are greatly encouraged by the leadership and decisiveness shown today from these lead partners and honored to play this role as we open up this first phase of the project finance.”
The Fashion Climate Fund will provide programmatic funding for supplier interventions across the value chain, including moving to renewable electricity, accelerating next-generation materials, scaling sustainable materials and practices, eliminating coal in production, and improving energy efficiency.
To support management of solutions and apply the use of funds, Aii also announced plans to launch a Climate Solutions Portfolio to serve as an online registry of early, mid-and late-stage initiatives that address supply chain greenhouse gas emissions. Fund partners and strategic advisors will use the portfolio for industry alignment and decisions on programs and grants.
Perkins added:
“By aligning industry leaders and climate-focused philanthropists behind scalable solutions, the Fashion Climate Fund opens a pathway for greater collaboration and cross-pollination of solutions, facilitating greater investment and stronger collective action toward the industry goal of halving emissions by 2030, while also seeking climate justice for the citizens and communities where our fashion is made.”
