Burberry's LFW show was carbon-neutral, company takes further eco measures

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 18, 2020

Burberry’s show on Monday was notable for more than the new collection Riccardo Tisci sent down the runway. It was also carbon-neutral, the company has said.

The listed fashion giant had taken measures around the show to “reduce carbon emissions and offset the remaining impacts through programmes to reforest areas of Australia devastated by the recent bushfires”.

And it has created a ‘Regeneration Fund’ to support “future carbon insetting projects in its global supply chain, starting with wool producers in Australia”.

The show itself was held in a “certified sustainable venue, prioritising electric vehicles and not using any air freight”. Any remaining carbon emissions are being offset “through a savanna fire management project, which works to reduce the risk of uncontrolled late dry season wild fires in Australia and mitigate damage caused to ecosystems”.

And its efforts extended to it reviewing its gifting for show guests, with the company saying it worked with PUR Project and its local partner to plant trees in Australia on guests’ behalf “to help restore native ecosystems devastated by the recent bushfires”.

It all underlines how seriously fashion companies are taking the issue of climate change and sustainability and how aware they are of the criticism that has been levelled at the fashion sector for being a major polluter. That criticism came very much to the fore during London Fashion Week as protest group Extinction Rebellion caused disruption and even called for future editions of the event to be cancelled due to fashion’s impact on the climate. 

The new insetting projects will be implemented within Burberry’s own supply chain, “working to promote biodiversity, restore ecosystems and support the livelihoods of local producers, as well as storing carbon at source and removing it from the atmosphere”.

The PUR Project link goes further that just this show with the two partnering “to design and implement regenerative agriculture practices with some of its wool producers in Australia”. The project will work at farm level to “improve carbon capture in soils, improve watershed and soil health, reduce dryland salinity and promote biodiverse habitats”.

Burberry is already carbon-neutral in the Americas, in its EMEIA retail stores and UK operations and said it’s “on track to achieve its goal of being carbon-neutral in its own global operations by 2022”.