Sustainability
ESG
CSRD
Europe’s leading luxury brands are moving to overhaul how environmental information is gathered across fashion supply chains, launching a coordinated effort to replace today’s fragmented reporting landscape with a single, streamlined system. Under a new European Accelerator created by The Fashion Pact, companies including CHANEL, Kering, Moncler Group and Prada Group are backing a shared approach to collecting and assessing supplier ESG data—an area long seen as a barrier to effective decarbonisation.
Fashion team meeting at a luxury clothing company. AI generated picture.
The initiative responds to a persistent challenge facing Europe’s fashion ecosystem: suppliers working for multiple brands are required to complete differing questionnaires, follow separate verification routes and meet distinct disclosure expectations. For many small and mid-sized manufacturers, these inconsistencies translate into lost time, additional cost and data that is difficult for brands to compare. The Fashion Pact, which represents more than 55 CEOs and roughly one third of global industry volume, is aiming to fix that.
Eva von Alvensleben, Executive Director and Secretary General of The Fashion Pact, describes the launch as a pivotal moment. ‘Consistent data quality is essential for companies to understand emissions hotspots, craft credible decarbonisation plans and meet tightening European regulatory expectations’, she said.
At the heart of the Accelerator is a harmonised questionnaire focused on energy, water and waste. Developed with Quantis and tested with 74 suppliers in Italy, the tool has been built to eliminate overlapping requests and raise the reliability of environmental data across the region. Several manufacturers have already adopted the framework, which will evolve as new technical standards emerge.
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For many suppliers, the simplification is significant. Lucia Mantero, Product Development Director at Mantero, noted that the pilot allowed her team to focus on data accuracy rather than administrative navigation. ‘The pilot allowed her company to focus on delivering accurate data rather than navigating brand-specific templates’, the statement reads.
The work comes at a time when suppliers face mounting financial pressure. Research from the TEHA Group shows that over half of European manufacturers lack the capital needed to install low-carbon technologies, leaving a €4.4 billion gap to meet the sector’s 2030 decarbonisation trajectory. By establishing a shared baseline of environmental performance, the Accelerator aims to help identify where financing tools—such as blended capital or joint investment platforms—could spur upgrades in renewable energy, materials and efficiency.
Lorenzo Bertelli, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Prada Group, said the new framework creates ‘a more reliable basis for identifying the kinds of interventions that will matter most for Europe’s fragmented and highly specialised supply network.’
The governance model behind The Fashion Pact, combining CEO-level mandate with sustainability expertise, is designed to speed up collective decision-making and implementation. Edoardo Zegna, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer at Ermenegildo Zegna Group, highlighted the collaborative process, noting that transparency and ongoing dialogue were key to securing consensus across the sector.
As regulatory expectations accelerate, the European Accelerator could shape how fashion systems outside the continent approach supplier data. For investors and corporate leaders alike, clearer and more comparable disclosure may become a defining factor in assessing transition readiness—and in determining which companies are positioned to meet global environmental goals.
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As Europe’s luxury houses work to strengthen supplier transparency and accelerate value chain decarbonisation, one message is becoming clear: credible progress depends on reliable data and high-integrity environmental action both inside and beyond the supply chain. As brands refine their reporting frameworks and identify where emissions reductions remain hard to achieve, nature-based mitigation is emerging as an essential complement to operational improvements. At Green Earth, we specialise in large-scale restoration projects that rebuild ecosystems, enhance biodiversity and deliver verified carbon units designed to fit seamlessly into rigorous decarbonisation plans. For organisations aiming to tackle unavoidable emissions while contributing to a resilient, nature-positive future, these projects offer a practical and trustworthy pathway—and a timely opportunity to take the next step with Green Earth.
