WAKEFIELD – Our host Philip Berman sits down with Sean Cady, vice president of global sustainability, responsibility and trade for VF Corporation and also elected board director for Cascale, and Andrew Martin, executive vice president of Cascale for our latest podcast on decarbonising the fashion supply chain.

This third of a four part podcast series, brought to you in association with Cascale – the new name of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition – features a deep dive into how best to tackle carbon reductions in the global apparel industry and take a closer look at Cascale’s shift from tools to programmes.

Martin begins by outlining the importance of science-based targets to Cascale’s work on decarbonisation and why it has set a requirement for its members to commit to these vital objectives. “Alignment and standardisation is part of our DNA,” he tells Berman. He also highlights how a standardised approach to supply chain decarbonisation can reduce duplication, reduce confusion, and, importantly for Cascale’s members, allows them to accelerate climate action together.

“The membership requirements are there to provide the pathway – the route. And our role is to provide support,” he explains.

Sean Cady agrees with the benefits offered by signing up to this collaborative approach. “These long term targets have inspired our global teams and all of our suppliers to act in a more purposeful way,” he says. “They (the targets) have also provided key measures aligned with VF’s purpose, which ends with betterment of people and planet.

“They drive internal annual work plans that are actionable, and these plans enable us to complete different projects that all ladder up to the methodical, incremental achievement of goals that are driving toward our 2030 targets.”

Cady also discusses the challenge of reducing scope 3 emissions which, he tells listeners, account for over 99% of VF’s total emissions. “That’s really where we have to focus,” he says.

Berman and his guests go on to discuss the critical role played by the Higg Index suite of tools, the current regulatory landscape, and the growing urgency of mitigating the impact of global climate change from a textile and apparel perspective.

Don’t forget to listen to Episode 1 of the series where our host Philip Berman speaks with Jeremy Lardeau, senior VP of the Higg Index at Cascale, and Quentin Thorel, group head of sustainability for CIEL Textile, talking about the re-branding of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and the importance of ‘measuring for impact’.

In Episode 2 Berman is joined by Elisabeth von Reitzenstein, senior director of public affairs at Cascale and Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, co-founder of the 2BPolicy who advise listeners how best to prepare for new European Union legislation.

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