Fashion brands fall short of sustainability targets: Report

Nearly 15 fashion companies, including high-end brands, have been unable to meet their environmental, sustainability, and social targets of the Paris climate agreement and US Sustainable Development Goals, says a new report by The Business of Fashion.

A report by Economic Times reveals, the fashion publication rated companies out of 100 in their attempt towards meeting the 16 targets listed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement on emissions, waste, workers' rights, water, and materials.

Twelve sustainability experts advised the online publication on the methodology of the report. The companies were also ranked on their transparency and the amount of information available about a company's practices.

According to the report, the companies were more interested in disclosing information on their targets than concrete actions towards fulfilling them.

Luxury goods company, Kering, topped the list with 49 points, while sports equipment company Under Armor ranked the lowest with nine points. The average score was 36 points.

Kering and Nike performed well on transparency, while PVH Corp, Levi Strauss, and VF Corp ranked highest in their efforts to reduce emissions.

Luxury brands like Hermès, LVMH and Richemont scored lower than high street fashion companies H&M, Inditex, Gap and Levi Strauss in all the six categories - emissions, waste, workers' rights, materials and transparency.

Retail companies, including Fast Retailing, Richmount, also ranked the lowest in all categories along with Under Armour, except it scored well in workers' rights.

According to the report, companies, on average, performed the worst on waste and workers' rights.