The Scandinavian Textile Initiative For Climate Action (STICA)
Climate Action
Program & Network
The Scandinavian Textile Initiative For Climate Action (STICA)
Climate Action
Program & Network
Company Climate Action Program
To be considered a serious and responsible company, and to meet the requirements of emerging legislation and stakeholder expectations, apparel and textile companies should publicly commit to science-based GHG emissions reduction targets, report regularly on progress, and take effective action. To do this, companies and organizations need to understand what it means both strategically and practically. They also need a platform to share best practices and collaborate to achieve their goals.
That is why we offer a Climate Action Program and Network for brands and retailers in a range of segments – everyday fashion, luxury, outdoor, sport, workwear – and other actors who purchase, sell or produce textiles, such as those supporting the public sector and municipalities.
The purpose of this program is to help apparel and textile organizations to:
Understand their organization’s climate impacts and measure and report GHG emissions according to the most trusted standards;
Develop science-based targets and plans for reducing GHG emissions;
Develop processes and structures for reporting on and communicating company progress;
Identify actions that reduce emissions and create business benefits;
Ensure integrity, transparency and accountability; and
Access a platform for collective action and advocacy.
Company Benefits
Participating offers a number of benefits:
1. Integrity, credibility & accountability: STICA is led by The Sustainable Fashion Academy, an independent, non-profit organization. SFA holds company members accountable for progress by requiring that they adhere to specific calculation and reporting guidelines, set targets and publicly report on their progress on an annual basis. STICA guidelines are based on the most robust global standards and are updated on a regular basis.
2. Ongoing education, training and tools: As climate action is a challenging area, and knowledge, tools and standards are often updated, we organize webinars on a regular basis to ensure the continuous education of network members and develop basic tools to help companies in their climate action work.
3. Access to a robust network of companies who share knowledge and collaborate: The companies participating in STICA understand climate action is challenging and they are therefore keen to share their ideas and learn from each other. As part of the network, participants are organized into working groups designed to help members share best practices and develop collaborative projects, such as consumer engagement campaigns, co-sourcing of climate friendly transport options, co-engagement with mills and dye houses to support their transition to renewable energy, policy engagement, etc.
4. Business intelligence regarding climate and textiles: We share business intelligence related to existing solutions for greenhouse gas reductions in the apparel and textile industries. This intelligence can be reports, tools, case studies, etc.
5. Association to a platform working to drive systemic change: If individual companies reduce their emissions but the industry overall does not, we will not achieve the aggregated GHG reductions needed. This is why serious companies understand that they also need to support change at an industry level. By joining this network, companies support SFA in our industry action work. As part of this support, organizations may be invited to provide input into and participate in additional activities SFA is hosting, such as developing policy positions, building climate impact roadmaps for the apparel and textiles industry, CEO roundtables and policy forums.
6. Access to expert advice, often at reduced consulting rates: For organizations that need it – especially smaller companies – we connect companies to additional consulting support. Because we are a larger network, we are also often able to negotiate reduced prices for members.
Participation Requirements
Companies who participate in the STICA Climate Action Program & Network are required to:
Measure and report in accordance to STICA guidelines, which are informed by the Science Based Targets methodology. We provide guidelines for this, as well as education. Companies are not expected to get approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, although this is encouraged.
Report progress on an annual basis (Scopes 1, 2 and 3). New members of the Climate Action Program & Network are given a one-year grace period before they are required to report.
Make public their targets and commitments. Companies and organizations should present their impacts and progress in their annual reports and will report their impacts annually to STICA who will also publish member’s progress in our annual report.
Develop climate action roadmaps and transition plans. Companies that participate in STICA must also develop credible and ambitious climate action transition plans.
Share knowledge and insights with other companies and engage in joint projects whenever possible and practical. Company and organizational representatives should strive to participate in workshops and engage in working groups if and when relevant. This will ensure the network is robust and that learning is shared most effectively.
Support advocacy and collective action at the industry level. This can be achieved in various ways, including supporting STICA’s policy work.
Program Membership Fees
To cover the costs associated with the development and execution of the program, as well as to support the industry action activities, organizations are asked to invest a yearly fee:
- 20,000 SEK / 2,000 EUR for organizations with a yearly turnover of less than 150 MSEK / 15 MEUR
- 40,000 SEK / 4,000 EUR for organizations with a yearly turnover between 150-1,000 MSEK / 15-100 MEUR
- 45,000 SEK / 4,500 EUR for organizations with a yearly turnover over 1,000 MSEK / 100 MEUR
WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING ABOUT STICA’s Climate Action Program & Network
Jan Tore Jensen, CEO, Bergans
“As a medium sized company, we do not have the capacity to execute such a challenging task as climate mapping and reduction action just on our own, but we can profit from the competence and knowledge of the majority of Nordic textile industry, as well as the expertise of STICA. STICA provides us with a network and a framework for doing what we all need to do, aiming for ambitious improvement actions and GHG reductions throughout our supply chain.”
Lisa Rosengren, Head of R&D Raw Material, Fristads
“At Fristads we have worked with sustainability at the product level for a long time and have a solid plan for reducing our overall environmental impact. STICA helps us to improve our sustainability work by giving us the right tools to analyse and report the results. It’s also a great forum for discussion and finding solutions for common challenges. Another positive effect of our collaboration is that it gives us leverage to effect meaningful change within the clothing industry – we’re much stronger together than on our own.”
RAHEL ZUMBÜHL, CIRCULARITY COORDINATOR, AXEL ARIGATO
“Joining STICA has had several advantages for us as Axel Arigato. Not only does it help to get an understanding of all upcoming changes within the industry, but it also helps to set joint industry goals that brands can work towards. For us, it has been the kick-off to work on our roadmap and start acting on our set targets. Looking ahead STICA is a great network of support regarding new challenges such as circularity. It is crucial to work with other brands to get a mutual understanding and share experiences to find solutions that work long-term for the industry.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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If you have questions we are here to help.
The apparel and textile industries are responsible for a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Recent studies estimate that the apparel industry accounts for approximately 2-10 % of the share of global emissions, ranging between 1.39 to 3.29 gigatons carbon dioxide emissions yearly depending on what is included in the scope. There is general agreement that the majority of the apparel industry’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the value chain, especially during fiber and material production, yarn production, preparation of fabrics and dyeing, assembly and transportation within production. Given the anticipated growth of the industry in emerging markets and our need to half emissions by 2030, it is crucial that the textile industry does its part and more.
STICA activities involve two work streams. Work stream one involves supporting commercial companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1,5°C warming pathway as specified by the Paris agreement and the Science-based Targets Initiative. Work stream two involves supporting the entire Scandinavian and European apparel and textiles industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1,5°C warming pathway while also stimulating these regions to be the global leaders in climate action.
STICA is coordinated by The Sustainability Fashion Academy, a non-profit independent organisation based in Sweden. SFA’s mission is to accelerate progress towards science-based sustainability targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by influencing the apparel industry and its stakeholders. SFA initiates research and analysis, empowers change agents with information, education and training, and mobilises key stakeholders around critical topics and goals, such as climate action. To learn more visit www.sustainablefashionacademy.org
To ensure credibility and comparability, STICA requires that company members:
Set targets, measure and report in accordance with STICA guidelines, which are informed by the Science Based Targets methodology. STICA provides guidelines for how to measure and report, as well as education and training. Company targets and methods do not need to be approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, although this is encouraged.
Report progress on an annual basis (Scopes 1, 2 and 3 according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol). Members need to report progress for all scopes. New members are permitted to wait one year before reporting.
Make public their targets and commitments. Companies and organizations should present their impacts and progress in their annual reports. STICA also publishes members’ progress annually.
Develop and submit Climate Transition Plans, which include their longer term roadmaps for 2025 and 2030, as well as their more short term action plans.
Share knowledge and insights with other companies and engage in joint projects where possible and practical. Company and organizational representatives are expected to participate in webinars and engage in working groups if and when relevant. This ensures the network is robust and that learning is shared most effectively.
Support action at the industry level. Without changes at the industry level, there are limits to what a company can do to reduce its emissions and transform its business. By engaging at the industry level and by supporting STICA, companies also support structural change.
The STICA guidelines are designed to ensure member companies follow the most up to date and credible standards in GHG reporting. By following our guidelines, members are aligned with the GHG Protocol. When it comes to the SBTi, our minimum guidelines and requirements are primarily but not exclusively based on the criteria and recommendations from the SBTi. That being said, we provide member companies guidance on which additional requirements they need to fulfill to be able to submit their targets for validation from the SBTi. Although it is not a requirement, some companies in STICA have chosen to also submit their targets for SBTi validation. However, since SBTi currently does not require smaller companies to report on and set targets for their Scope 3 impacts, and STICA does, the STICA guidelines and requirements are more demanding than the SBTi requirements for SMEs. When it comes to aligning with climate legislation, we are currently involved in influencing the development of this legislation. In the future, STICA guidelines will be aligned to ensure compliance with all relevant climate legislation.
We have a number of companies that work with footwear and we encourage more to join. This will strengthen this aspect of STICA.
No. We are now inviting companies from Europe to participate in the STICA Climate Action Program & Network. Please contact us to learn more!
INITIATIVE FOUNDERS
Company members 2023
