Gucci to Unveil Nature Positive Climate Strategy
MILAN — Gucci is championing regenerative agriculture, tackling climate change and going beyond its commitment to total carbon neutrality.
During the virtual World Economic Forum in Davos, Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive officer of Gucci, will unveil today the company’s nature-positive strategy, called “Natural Climate Solutions Portfolio.”
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Accordingly, Gucci will help protect and restore critical forests and mangroves, while also investing in regenerative agriculture within its supply chain.
“The evolution of our strategy incorporates a series of clear climate actions that will continue to prioritize reducing our emissions and drawing down CO2, which allows us to maintain carbon neutrality across our entire supply chain. At the same time, we are investing in regenerative agriculture as an important pillar of our approach,” Bizzarri said.
“Led by science, Gucci’s new Natural Climate Solutions Portfolio protects and restores important ecosystems that mitigate climate change, while providing lasting biodiversity and climate benefits for years to come. We want to be part of the solution for nature and climate by mainstreaming practices and systems that will transform nature from being a victim of climate to becoming an actor to change climate, which will ultimately determine the future of our planet,” concluded Bizzarri.
Gucci has been carbon neutral in its own operations and across its entire supply chain since 2018.
While Gucci’s new climate strategy continues to prioritize emissions reduction, in parallel it drives supply chain transformation to create a positive impact on biodiversity and climate.
Gucci’s new diversified Natural Climate Solutions Portfolio has been set up to conserve critical forests. Gucci has reduced its total greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent between 2018 and 2019, relative to growth. To maintain its commitment to carbon neutrality, the company has been protecting more than 1 million hectares of important forests and biodiversity.
The firm is also compensating for residual emissions that cannot be avoided with investments in REDD-plus [reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation] projects to protect forests and biodiversity, such as on in the Chyulu Hills in Kenya with partner Conservation International and the Kariba REDD+ project in Zimbabwe with partner South Pole. These also create a positive economic and social impact for local communities and protect endangered wildlife and their habitats.
Gucci has invested in the Muskitia Blue Carbon REDD+ project in Honduras with South Pole. The project will protect nearly 5,000 hectares of mangroves and more than 285,000 hectares of forest from deforestation. When these ecosystems are damaged or destroyed, an enormous amount of carbon dioxide is emitted back into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change.
Gucci is working with Conservation International, South Pole and Native to identify and scale up regenerative agriculture projects with the aim to source regenerative raw materials for its products.
With the goal to stimulate farmers to switch to regenerative agriculture, the brand has directly funded regenerative projects for wool and leather globally covering nearly 3,075 hectares, for example in Patagonia.
This marks a shift from the chemically intensive farming that traditionally produces fashion’s raw materials to agricultural systems that actually replenish and strengthen nature.
The fashion company has continued to focus on avoiding and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions across its supply chain and switched to green energy, reaching 83 percent renewable energy for its stores, offices, warehouses and factories with a 100 percent target for 2022. Gucci is supporting its suppliers’ switch over to green energy.
Sustainable sourcing and incorporating organic fibers into the brand’s collections has also helped advance its goal to source 100 percent sustainably by 2025.
The company has increased the use of recycled and regenerated materials across nylon, cotton, cashmere, polyester, precious metals, plastic and packaging to support a circular economy.
Gucci last year partnered with luxury consignment company The RealReal to launch an online shop featuring the brand’s items, promoting circularity for luxury fashion, in line with its sustainability goals, after launching the Off the Grid collection employing recycled, organic, bio-based and sustainably sourced materials.
In November, Gucci launched biodegradable packaging that features an ornate green decorative pattern embossed onto paper bags and cardboard boxes.
All paper and cardboard come from sustainably managed forest sources and an uncoated paper has been used to ensure it is fully recyclable. The paper is also colored a unique green at the beginning of the production process to reduce the use of inks.
In February 2020, Gucci joined The Lion’s Share Fund to support on-the-ground protection of endangered species and their natural habitats ongoing.
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