Cascale’s New CEO Spotlights the Urgency for the Consumer Goods Industry to Go Further to Tackle the Climate Crisis

Colin Browne, new CEO of the global nonprofit alliance Cascale, today unveiled critical insights to help the industry take a more targeted approach to decarbonization. Addressing over 600 leaders across the textile, apparel, and wider consumer goods industry, Browne used his first Annual Meeting as CEO to set out practical, strategic data-driven solutions - including an intensified focus on “industry hotspots” where major reductions can be achieved.

Browne presented new analysis from Cascale’s partner, RESET Carbon, which used data from Cascale’s Higg Index, exclusively available on Worldly, to show that 1,500 manufacturing facilities in nine countries account for 80 percent of the textile and apparel industry’s carbon emissions.

Cascale has already set a 45 percent reduction target for the textile, apparel, and footwear industry by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement. With the industry behind on progress to achieve this, Browne called for an intensified focus on critical areas the data uncovers:

“The reality is that the consumer goods industry is not doing enough to combat climate change. With new data demonstrating a stark concentration of climate impact, we must direct action to where it matters most. We have to focus on the Industry Strategic Supplier hotspots. There is no path to achieving our 45 percent reduction target that doesn’t involve these 1,500 facilities.”

To help accelerate data-driven change, Cascale is working with its partners Apparel Impact Institute and RESET Carbon to build an Industry Decarbonization Roadmap, supporting suppliers to reduce their emissions in a targeted way.

Now four months into his role, Browne spoke of his ambition and confidence: “I’m more optimistic today than I was 120 days ago. We have the technical knowledge, the capability and the tools to ensure a much more sustainable industry. But do we have the courage, the capacity and the commitment to follow through? I’m confident we do, and I urge every leader across the industry to step up. If not now then when? While we support our members with practical tools and techniques to help them decarbonize, we also constantly challenge them to do better.”

Browne acknowledged that Cascale has work to do to drive the scale of change it wants to see among its members. As part of Cascale’s membership requirements, corporate members must now join the organization’s Decarbonization Program and set science-based targets (SBTs) or science-aligned targets (SATs). In 2023, 59.7 percent of Cascale corporate members had either set or begun the process of setting SBTs or SATs - a 28.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Browne continued: “Cascale data shows there is a long road ahead. We found that within our membership, 33 percent of brands and 54 percent of manufacturers haven’t set Science-Based Targets. That needs to change. More importantly, brands and suppliers need to work in tandem to transform their Tier 2, which is the single most important source of carbon emissions. Setting an SBT without close consultation with one’s supply chain is unacceptable and irresponsible given the near-term deadline of 2030. But, with the right actionable data and mutual support, there is hope - as we uncover at this Annual Meeting.”

Today’s speeches form part of two days of action-orientated programming to help achieve a more sustainable and equitable future. The first Annual Meeting since Cascale – previously the Sustainable Apparel Coalition – rebranded in February 2024, it marks a major milestone in the organisation’s evolution.