Canada's Gildan slashes scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions by 10.9% in 2022

In 2022, Gildan made significant strides in its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. Twenty-five per cent of all Gildan’s senior executives’ strategic objectives were tied to their annual short-term incentive plan, thereby supporting the advancement of ESG targets, according to the company’s 19th ESG report.

The report highlighted Gildan’s 2022 performance against key targets and the strong momentum generated across all of its global operations in the first year of activating its Next Generation ESG strategy.  

The company sourced 21.7 per cent of its cotton supply from verified US-grown cotton suppliers (USCTP) and Better Cotton, and 14.2 per cent of total SKUs of packaging and trim materials specific to apparel now contain recycled materials or have relevant sustainability certifications. The company achieved 30.3 per cent gender parity in the collective group representing director-level and above employees, an improvement from 26.7 per cent in 2021. Additionally, Gildan contributed $1.1 million to community initiatives and published its first stand-alone Climate Change Disclosure Report.

Recent 2023 achievements include the validation by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) of Gildan’s 2030 near-term targets to reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 from a 2018 base year. SBTi also validated Gildan’s target to reduce scope 3 emissions by 13.5 per cent by 2030 from a 2019 base year. Additionally, Gildan obtained the first ISO 45001 certification at one of its sewing facilities in the Dominican Republic.

Recognitions for Gildan continue to highlight its commitment to ESG practices. The company has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the 10th consecutive year in 2022 and has been placed in CDP’s Leadership Band that same year. Gildan was also named one of the ‘World’s 100 Most Sustainable Corporations’ by Corporate Knights and included in ‘Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens’ by the same publication. In addition, the company has been designated as a 2023 ‘Top-Rated ESG Company’ by Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings and has been accorded ‘Prime’ status by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ESG Corporate Rating.

“Looking back at 2022, I am pleased with our continued commitment to ESG across our operations and our enhanced processes and cross-functional collaboration and accountability,” said Glenn J Chamandy, president and CEO of Gildan. “ESG is one of the three core pillars of our Gildan Sustainable Growth (GSG) business strategy, and as we continue our journey towards achieving our 2030 ESG targets, we are committed to delivering and reporting on our progress.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)