The Swedish Textile Initiative For Climate Action (STICA)
Company Climate Program & Network
Join Our Company Climate Program & Network
To be able to publically commit to science-based GHG emissions reduction targets, report regularly on progress, and take effective action, 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 an climate 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 GHG emissions;
Develop science-based targets and plans for reducing GHG emissions;
Develop processes and structures for reporting on and communicating organization’s progress; and
Identify actions that reduce emissions and create business benefits.
Company Climate Program & Network Benefits
Participating in this program and network offers a number of benefits:
1. Integrity & Credibility: 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. On-going education and training: 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.
3. Access to a robust network of companies who share knowledge: 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, then we will not achieve the aggregate 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, 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 Company Climate Program & Network are expected 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 Company Climate 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.
Share knowledge and insights with other companies and engage in joint projects whenever possible and practical. Company and organizational representatives should also 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 collective action at the industry level. This can be done by supporting STICA, who is developing a roadmap for the Nordic textile industry and is active in numerous international platforms for climate action.
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
“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.” – Jan Tore Jensen, CEO, Bergans
“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.” – Lisa Rosengren, Head of R&D Raw Material, Fristads
“Being part of STICA has helped us to address our climate challenge. We believe STICA is important to join forces in our industry and to accelerate the work needed to be done. Joining the initiative was a kick start for us and provided us with the necessary knowledge and tools to move forward and accelerate our climate focus. We humbly acknowledge the great challenge we have ahead of us to reduce our climate impact and reach our goals. Together with STICA we have set the goal to operate in line with the Paris Agreement and to annually measure and report our emissions and our status in relation to the 1.5 degree goal. With STICA we feel that we have the support needed for the important work that lays ahead of us.” – Eleonor Björserud, Sustainability Manager, MQ MARQET.
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 degree warming pathway as specified by the Paris agreement and the Science-based Targets Initiative. Work stream two involves supporting the entire Swedish and Nordic apparel and textiles industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1,5 degree warming pathway while also stimulating this region 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.
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.