Arcadia Group joins CanopyStyle in campaign to protect forests

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Nov 25, 2015

The international not-for-profit environmental organisation CanopyStyle announced on Tuesday new partnerships with the UK's Arcadia Group, C&A China and the Finish fashion chain Lindex. The brands add to H&M, Inditex, Stella McCartney, Eileen Fisher and Marks & Spencer in a crusade to protect endangered and ancient forests.

“With 55 brands representing $85 billion in annual sales now joining together to protect forests there is a clear market signal to fabric producers: eliminate sourcing from endangered forests,” said Nicole Rycroft, Founder and Executive Director of Canopy. ”What’s exciting is how this momentum is already translating back through the supply chain to alleviate stress on critical forest.”

The fashion retailers are committing to finding ways to ensure that their future supply chains do not harm critical forests or contribute to deforestation, while encouraging sustainable solutions.

According to a statement, Arcadia Group will support the campaign by working towards ensuring its production does not use ancient and endangered forest for fabrics such as rayon and viscose by 2017.

The Dutch company C&A, which has also backed the project, will begin implementing some of the measures at its Chinese branch. “We are starting with our operations in China, as it is a key retail market for us,” said Jeff Hogue, Chief Sustainability Officer C&A Global. “By joining the CanopyStyle initiative, C&A China will bring more sustainable products to our customers in China and create opportunities to drive more sustainable textile and fashion manufacturing in this region”.

In 2016, the CanopyStyle campaign will see the global viscose supply start to undergo independent verification audits to establish that their fabrics are free of ancient and endangered forests.