H&M teaming up with WWF

Swedish fashion giant H&M has announced a three-year global partnership with

conservation organisation WWF to form ‘Side by side’, a new cutting edge water strategy.

The new partnership marks an evolution in the corporate approach to water and has been developed after the two organisations performed a comprehensive evaluation of all H&M´s efforts and challenges in connection with water. It was from this evaluation that the new H&M water strategy was formed to take the whole supply chain into account, rather than ending at the factory lines.

Starting this year, WWF and H&M will implement the strategy together, which will begin at the drawing board, where H&M designers and buyers will receive additional training in the water impacts of raw material production as well as wet processes for different styles, to promote more sustainable choices.

The organisations will also work in collaboration with public policy makers, NGO´s, water institutions and other companies to support better management of particular river basins in China and Bangladesh.

In addition, the retailer has also committed to improving its internal water efficiency, minimise its suppliers’ impact on water, train all staff in water issues and inspire customers to use water responsibly. In addition, H&M will support the WWF conservation projects on water in the Yangtze river basin in China.

"Water is a key resource for H&M and we are committed to ensure that water is used responsibly throughout our value chain. We do this to minimize risks in our operations, to protect the environment and to secure the availability of water. We are proud of the partnership with WWF which we hope will inspire others to follow, " says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M.