H&M Group has announced that it came out top in a new Fossil Free Fashion ranking by the environmental organisation Stand.earth. The report assesses the progress brands are making in cutting emissions and moving to renewable energy.

It’s not a fully comprehensive report as it only looks at the work being done by 11 companies. But given that they own some of the biggest brands on the planet, their work can have a major impact industry-wide.

As well as H&M, they include Puma, Nike, Levi Strauss & Co, Adidas, Gap, VF Corp, Inditex, Lululemon, Fast Retailing, and Shein.

H&M Group said it was awarded the highest total score “because of our leading supply chain emissions and renewable electricity targets, and for offering the most tangible financial support, supplier engagement and effective supply chain advocacy”.

David Dahl, the group’s Head of Climate and Nature, added: “We are committed to cutting our absolute emissions and achieving net-zero by 2040. The results of Stand.earth’s report shows that we are heading in the right direction. But, there’s still much more to do, both as a company and as an industry. By working together, we could have a deeper impact at a faster rate.” 

Stand.earth said of the industry as a whole: “The 2023 Scorecard found pockets of progress, but found that companies provided no or little detail on the incremental steps they are taking to advance a renewable energy transition, and meaningful financial investment by the majority of brands was desperately lacking. 

“The 2024 Clean Energy Close Up is designed to build on that foundation by providing an in-depth analysis of the tangible progress of 11 of the most influential global fashion brands. Their performance is measured against the runway to an equitable fossil fuel phase-out by 2030 on criteria related to energy efficiency and renewable energy, drawing in data shared publicly by manufacturers in their supply chains. Detailed recommendations are provided to help course correct and put these industry giants back on track to slash emissions by 55% by 2030 compared with 2018 levels, while enabling a dramatic supply chain transformation away from fossil fuels.”

The 11 companies were scored out of 100 on elements such as commitments, transparency, progress towards 2030 and actions/advocacy.

H&M Group scored a total of 59, which is encouraging but is by no means a sign of ‘job done’ on this front. As the company itself said, there’s still a lot to do.

Puma was second on 51 points with Nike scoring 46.5, Levi Strauss quite a way below on 37.5 and Adidas on 33.5. 

The five companies below that scored between 14 and 20.5, but in 11th place, Shein was even further down on 2.5.

With the firm reported to be planning an IPO in the UK this year, its work in this area is likely to come under even closer scrutiny so it will clearly have a busy time catching up with its industry peers.

The report said “Shein’s absolute emissions increased by nearly 50% (from 6.04 to 9.17 million tons of CO2e) in just one year to 20221, more than the annual emissions of the nation of Paraguay”.

Levi Strauss, Puma, and H&M were the only names currently on track to reduce manufacturing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 2018 levels.

And H&M was the only brand to offer suppliers grants to decarbonise (such as installing rooftop solar panels), but has yet to fully disclose the impact on phasing out fossil fuels.

None of the 11 clothing giants “explicitly shared a full total of production volume in tons of their apparel and footwear, which is a critical piece of the puzzle to reducing absolute emissions across the supply chain,” the organisation said.