The owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein is putting cash behind its commitment to help improve and protect the environment and human rights across the company’s global supply chain.
PVH Corp. announced this week that it is partnering with HSBC Bank USA to provide its suppliers with access to funding based on a set of science-based environmental targets, as well as a series of social elements, including a healthy and safe working environment, compensation and benefits, and employment issues, such as forced labor, child labor, and harassment and abuse.
Sustainable supply chain finance is one way to help companies in the apparel industry ensure that progress is made to advance their targets and commitments. PVH claims it is the first sustainable supply chain finance program that is tied to both environmental and social objectives and based on suppliers’ sustainability ratings.
Suppliers progress will be measured against PVH’s Human Rights and Environmental Supply Chain standards, and performance assessment standards will be measured using industry-aligned tools. These include the Social Labor Convergence Program (SLCP), which measures a facility’s performance against human rights and labor standards, and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s (SAC) Higg Facility Environmental Module, which assesses environmental standards.
Building on its experience in sustainable supply chain finance programs, HSBC will act as a key financing partner in providing capital based on the standards. Recent research conducted by the bank and Boston Consulting Group found that global supply chains need $100 trillion of investment by 2050 if they are to achieve net zero emissions targets, and as much as half of this is required by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Environmental stewardship and supporting human rights in its supply chain are part of PVH’s Fashion Forward sustainability strategy. By 2025, the company aims for 100 percent of workers employed by key suppliers to be represented by workplace committees and for all suppliers to promote and maintain safe and healthy work environments. On the planet front, PVH has set goals for all of its cotton and viscose be sustainably sourced and to eliminate water pollution from wet processes by 2025.
“The availability of accessible financing is pivotal to ensuring our suppliers are empowered to invest back into their businesses and people, and contribute to our collective goal of creating an innovative and responsible global supply chain,” said Sarah Clarke, PVH chief supply chain officer.
