SAC releases progress report on completion of first decade

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), an association representing apparel, footwear, and textile industry in sustainability, has released a report detailing organisation’s first decade of progress, culminating in its signature achievement, the completion of the Higg Index, a suite of tools for the standardised measurement of value chain sustainability.

 

In addition to illustrating the impact of the Higg Index, the report lays out the framework for the SAC’s ambitious new mission to transform business for exponential impact. 

 

Developed over the last decade by the SAC, the Higg Index enables companies to proactively measure and manage issues like environmental stewardship, working conditions, and supplier relations. The five tools within the Higg Index continue to evolve to align with emerging scientific data and an ever-growing understanding of sustainability issues.

 

“Over the past 10 years, we have worked collaboratively across the industry to develop and launch the Higg Index, providing cutting-edge, standardised sustainability tools for our industry,” Amina Razvi, SAC executive director, said in a press release. 

 

“As we look ahead to our next decade of action, the Higg Index will be central to the SAC’s mission of transforming businesses for exponential impact providing the building blocks necessary to help us make smarter and more informed decisions about the products we make, how we make them, and how we partner together to reduce impact on people and the planet. With scientists predicting that we only have 10 years until the effects of climate change are irreversible, we feel a sense of urgency and responsibility to continue moving our industry forward,” Razvi said.

 

The SAC’s new strategic plan is built around four pillars: collective action, integrated tools, transparency, and sustainability leadership. This plan is bold, ambitious and flexible, acknowledging that new and emerging insights and issues across the industry will require the organisation to be agile in how it prioritises its work and focuses its attention on continual progress towards its goals. 

 

“As the SAC prepares to embark upon a new decade of transformative action, the organisation and its more than 250 members are committed to a bold, new mission to transform business for exponential impact through ground-breaking tools, collaborative partnerships, and trusted leadership for industry sustainability,” Sean Cady, SAC board chair and VF Corporation global vice president for sustainability, responsibility and trade, said in the release.

 

“The SAC has spent ten years developing the Higg Index for the industry, and now we’re ready to put the tools to use,” Jeremy Lardeau, the SAC’s vice president of the Higg Index, said. “The insights provided by the Higg Index will empower the industry to accelerate and deepen the adoption of climate solutions, worker protections, and more sustainable products at scale.”