Fashion brands team up to accelerate renewable electricity adoption in supply chains

Levi Strauss & Co. and Marks & Spencer have joined forces with Schneider Electric’s SE Advisory Services to launch the Fashion Renewable Collaborative, a new industry initiative aimed at speeding up the shift to renewable electricity across fashion supply chains.

Unveiled during New York Climate Week, the collaborative is intended to give suppliers not just targets, but practical help: guidance, training and access to tools that can make renewable power procurement ea...

sier to understand and implement at scale. Rather than relying on brands working in isolation, the programme is built around a shared approach that seeks to reduce duplication, ease pressure on suppliers and create a more coordinated route to decarbonisation.

The initiative comes as fashion companies face mounting pressure to turn climate commitments into measurable emissions cuts. Many brands have announced ambitious net-zero goals, but the supply chain remains one of the hardest parts of the industry to decarbonise. Manufacturers often contend with fragmented customer demands, limited internal resources and complicated energy markets, all of which can slow the adoption of cleaner electricity.

That challenge matters because textile processing sits near the heart of the sector’s emissions problem. According to the Apparel Impact Institute, activities such as weaving, dyeing and other fabric production account for more than half of apparel industry emissions. Against that backdrop, renewable electricity is seen as one of the fastest and most scalable ways to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.

The collaborative is designed to tackle those obstacles by helping suppliers move from awareness to action. Its framework includes digital training, market guidance and hands-on support for sourcing renewable electricity through mechanisms such as power purchase agreements, energy attribute certificates and on-site or distributed renewable generation. It also includes storage and other established options that can help companies secure cleaner power in ways that suit local market conditions.

For Marks & Spencer, the initiative builds on its wider sustainability strategy. Katharine Beacham, the retailer’s head of sustainability and materials in fashion, home and beauty, said the company sees meaningful change as dependent on partnership. She linked the new programme to M&S’s Plan A strategy, under which the retailer aims to reach net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2040, and to RE:Spark, its existing supply chain decarbonisation programme developed with Schneider Electric.

Levi Strauss & Co. framed the move as a practical extension of its own supplier engagement work. Jennifer DuBuisson, senior director of sustainability, said the most effective way to cut emissions is to work directly with suppliers and that the new collaborative is meant to strengthen those relationships while avoiding unnecessary overlap in effort. She said it should help suppliers that want to increase their use of renewable electricity but have so far lacked the means to do so.

Schneider Electric, through SE Advisory Services, will act as the programme’s global implementation partner. The company says it already has extensive experience in supply chain decarbonisation, with more than 20 active programmes worldwide involving over 3,100 suppliers and 16 multi-buyer renewable energy procurement groups. The new initiative will use its Resource Advisor+ platform to onboard suppliers, track engagement, assess readiness and monitor progress.

The companies say the aim is not only to support individual suppliers, but also to create a wider industry model that fashion brands can join as members or sponsors. In doing so, they hope to expand the reach of the programme and help turn collective ambition into concrete emissions reductions across global supply chains.

Source: Noah Wire Services