Our approach is to track and reduce GHG emissions and progress towards our goals that have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the leading corporate collaboration organisation for climate change action. SBTi is focused on helping companies reduce their carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
Science-based targets (SBTs) are a set of goals developed by a business to provide it with a clear route to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A company’s targets can only be validated if they are in line with the SBTi's science-based criteria, which are based on the latest climate science and the goals of the Paris Agreement. BESTSELLER’s SBTs have been approved as aligned with a 1.5°C pathway, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement.
According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – the most widely used international accounting tool – greenhouse gas emissions are categorised into three groups or Scopes.
Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources.
Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by the reporting company.
Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.
Our SBTs are absolute targets and measured against a baseline year of 2018. Calculations show that BESTSELLER’s total climate footprint across all scopes reached approximately 2 million tonnes CO2e in base year 2018. We want to prioritise our efforts within scope 3 where we, by far, have our largest indirect footprint.
This is why our second target focuses exclusively on purchased goods and services, and upstream and downstream transportation. Consumer use impacts such as washing, drying and disposal of garments have been excluded in accordance with SBTi guidance. This means BESTSELLER’s adjusted baseline, which will define our progress, is 1.5 million tonnes CO2e.
To achieve our targets, we must decouple our growth from increasing GHG emissions.
Scope 1 & 2
By 2030, BESTSELLER commits to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50 percent from a 2018 base year.
Scope 3
By 2030, BESTSELLER commits to reducing absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, and upstream and downstream transportation by 30 percent from a 2018 base year.
Scope 1 & 2 include electricity use, heating and cooling of stores, offices and warehouses and use of BESTSELLER vehicles.
Since launching Fashion FWD, BESTSELLER has made significant inroads in terms of its direct GHG emissions in scope 1 and 2.
Among these is our commitment to renewable electricity, as well as overall energy reduction. While our direct carbon footprint only represents around five percent of BESTSELLER’s total 2018 baseline GHG emissions, our owned and operated buildings are symbolically significant due to their visibility.
BESTSELLER’s parent company, HEARTLAND, has established a 207 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Denmark and, through a power purchase agreement (PPA), we are sourcing renewable electricity to cover our use in the European Union and European Economic Area in line with the RE100 market boundary criteria.
2023-24 GHG emissions
With powering our owned and operated buildings globally by 100 percent renewable electricity, we achieved our first SBT target in late 2021. In 2023-24, total scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced by 14 percent compared to 2022. Renewable energy remains the primary driver for reaching 85 percent GHG drop compared to baseline in scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Additionally, we will further reduce the climate impact of our own operations by continuing to implement the Stores FWD, Office FWD, and Logistic Location FWD programmes - our programmes to reduce electricity consumption in our stores, offices and logistic locations. Our brands have taken a strong lead in accelerating these initiatives in all our owned and operated stores.
Compared to our baseline year 2018, we reduced the electricity consumption (kWh) per square metre (sqm) across our own stores by more than 30 percent. This surpassed our projected timeline two years ahead of schedule.
Scope 3 includes raw material, yarn and fabric production, garment manufacturing, transport, packaging, use of sold product and the product’s end-of-life – the extended value chain.
Whilst already on its way to reduce emissions in scope 1 and 2 through renewable electricity and reduction in energy consumptions, BESTSELLER’s scope 1 and 2 only constitute five percent of the company’s total GHG emissions – exposing the great task at hand for scope 3.
The majority of our climate impact is coming from the production of raw materials and the processes required to turn them into yarn, fabric and garments. These processes account for over 50 percent of our total impact in scope 3.
2023-24 GHG emissions
In 2023-24, SBT scope 3 GHG emissions were 1.4 million tonnes. This was 17 percent lower the 2022 calendar year, although 8 percent higher than the 2018 baseline.
We began to see a decoupling of emissions from our growth, as investments in raw material sourcing, increased use of certified and branded materials, and investments in low emission logistics show promising signs of progress. This encourages us to continue focusing on these strategies.
Transport emissions
Logistics emissions cover the transport of products
from suppliers, and the transport of products to our wholesale
partners, retail stores, and ecommerce shoppers globally.
Logistics accounts for approximately 7 percent of our total GHG emissions. Ocean transport makes up over 80 percent of BESTSELLER’s
transport solutions, while road transport covers 14 percent and air freight 6 percent. We are committed to reducing our logistics emissions and have taken concrete steps to do this.
For the last three years, we have partnered with Maersk – a leader in global shipping – to use Maersk ECO Delivery, a low-emission biofuel for the majority of our sea freight. Maersk ECO Delivery is manufactured from hydrotreated vegetable oil. It is certified as a sustainable fuel by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) body.
In 2022, using biofuel for sea freight was the main driver of logistics emissions falling by 55 percent from the 2018 baseline. However, between 2022 and 2023-24, emissions from logistics increased by almost 106 percent. Although this remains 13 percent lower than the 2018 baseline.
The increase in logistics-related emissions was largely driven by greater use of airfreight. While our primary method of transportation is ocean shipping for the majority of our products, the disruptions in the Middle East during 2024, which forced shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea, caused considerable delays.
To meet the commercial demands of delivering the right products on time to both our partners and end-consumers, we chose to increase our use of airfreight for some products.
In terms of logistics, we will continue to partner with Maersk on ECO delivery. The next phase of our partnership will include the use of electric trucks to reduce road emissions between ports and our logistics centres in Europe.
Materials
As part of our Fashion FWD Strategy we are committed to increasing our use of preferred materials year-on-year until all our products are made using materials with a lower environmental impact. For BESTSELLER, we define our total preferred materials as the sum of certified and branded materials, and Better Cotton fibres.
Certified and branded materials are proven to have less environmental
impact than conventional materials, such as through water
conservation, using renewable energy, and employing safer chemicals
during production.
In 2023-24, more than 58 percent of our total product volume by weight was made using preferred materials. In 2023-24, we continued to invest in certified and branded materials across all brands resulting in 23 percent of all BESTSELLER products were made using certified and branded materials.
Supplier emissions
To achieve our goal of placing 75 percent of product orders with suppliers highly rated in our Sustainability Evaluation by 2025 and – by extension – reduce our scope 3 emissions, we are working with our supply chain partners to identify and track all sources of energy, so we can create a verifiable record of energy use, as well as develop action plans to instigate meaningful change.
30 key Bangladeshi suppliers participate in our FWD>>ENV programme. Through this programme, we collaborate with factories to improve their environmental performance and train their staff to become qualified experts. During 2023, these factories again reduced their environmental impact. This included firstly, reducing 280 million megajoules of energy consumed, an average reduction of 7 percent. Secondly, more than 1.6 million cubic metres water saved, an average reduction of 12 percent. Finally, reducing 29,000 tonnes of CO2e, an average reduction of 10 percent.
We estimate that we could reduce our emissions by 50 percent in tier 1, 2 and 3 by reducing the number of suppliers that we use, and work with those with a strong environmental record.
We’re also exploring opportunities to support tier 1 suppliers in sourcing countries to install onsite solar power, providing renewable energy directly to their production facilities.
The first roof top solar system installed by BESTSELLER’s partner SOLshare, has begun powering a factory of a textile supplier in Bangladesh. The installation- part of a larger and wider initiative- will convert up to 20 percent of the factory’s energy consumption to clean, renewable power, marking an important milestone for BESTSELLER’s efforts in reducing the environmental impact of its supply chain.
Through a power purchase agreement (PPA), we are sourcing renewable electricity from our parent company’s solar power plant to cover our electricity use. With this PPA we achieved our first SBT target in late 2021.
Our key suppliers in Bangladesh are enrolled in the Environment FWD (FWD>ENV) programme, a novel initiative that aims to go further than traditional CSR initiatives by not only working with our suppliers to improve environmental performance at their factories, but to train their staff and create a team of qualified environmental experts with the hard and soft skills to effect real change.