Superdry has set a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions
Since the Industrial Revolution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have contributed to atmospheric warming that has lifted global temperatures by around 1.1⁰c. Without an ambitious decarbonisation plan, the projected global temperature rise is over 4⁰c by 2050 – with disastrous consequences to both people and the planet.
Our net zero plan supports the Paris Agreement, aligned with the UN Fashion Charter for Climate Action and the British Retail Consortium’s Climate Action Roadmap, to work towards limiting temperature rise to 1.5⁰c.
As a fashion brand, we understand that around 70% of our emissions come from upstream activities like materials production, preparation and processing; with the remaining 30% associated with downstream retail operations, the use-phase, and end-of-use activities.
We are already making changes to how we operate. Recognising the strides so far, we topped the Financial Times Europe Climate Leaders league table in 2021 for our 97% reduction in direct carbon intensity (Scopes 1 & 2) between 2014 and 2021.
Our Carbon Emissions
In FY22, as a first step in ensuring our decarbonisation strategy is fully aligned to the latest climate science, we calculated our first full scope 3 carbon emission inventory. View our full GHG inventory HERE and the external verification of these emissions, by Bureau Veritas to the ISO 14064-3:2019 standard, HERE.
We worked with independent specialist consultancy Avieco Ltd to do this and ensure our calculations align to the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) recommendations and continue to align with the GHG protocol.
As part of our process we will review and calculate a new baseline for FY20, which we will publish from next year. We will use this to track progress on scope 1-3 emissions over the next decade. Our initial reviews give us confidence that we will meet the decarbonisation needs of a Science Based Target by 2030.
Our Scope 3 emissions are very material to our business, accounting for 99.9% of our total scope 1-3 emissions. Category 1 - Purchased Goods and Services are our highest emitting scope 3 category, accounting for 63.7% of our total emissions. 79% of these emissions (accounting for 51% of our total emissions) come from the production of garments; all the way from raw materials production through to factory processing.
Our decarbonisation focus will prioritise this area, through our ‘Low Impact Materials’ sustainability pillar.
Summary GHG emissions for Superdry:
| GHG Scope | FY22 GHG Emissions (tCO2e) | FY21 GHG Emissions (tCO2e) | FY20 GHG Emissions (tCO2e) |
| Scope 1 | 234 | 182 | 163 |
| Scope 2 (Market Based) | 0 | 150 | 200 |
| Scope 3* | 24,791 | 32,976 | 38,502 |
| Total (Scopes 1-3) | 25,025 | 33,308 | 38,865 |
*Only partial Scope 3 emissions based on five categories as per our current KPI. This will be udpated to include our full scope 3 inventory as per SBTi guidelines during FY23
Full disclosure of our carbon emissions, and all mandatory reporting can be seen in our FY22 Annual Reports and Accounts.
Our Net Zero Goal and Related Milestones
We want to ensure our goals align with the latest climate science and will review these periodically to ensure we achieve meaningful and needed change.
- Net Zero across our own and third-party transport and distribution partner emissions by 2030
- Net Zero across our entire supply chain emissions by 2040
- 100% of the energy we use across our stores, offices, and third-party DCs will be from renewable sources.
- 50% of our garments will be made using renewable electricity by 2025, and 100% by 2030.
- 50% of our garments will be made by factories with certified energy management systems by 2025, and 100% by 2030.
How will we achieve Net Zero?
Our decarbonisation journey
Three categories represent 93% of our total carbon emissions footprint, so these form the main focus categories for decarbonisation, alongside our direct emissions associated with our stores and offices.
Our methodology across each of these three categories will be to first reduce what we need and use, and second convert what we do use to renewable/lower carbon alternatives. Once we have exhausted those options, aligning to SBTi guidelines of achieving a minimum of 90% carbon reduction, we will fund carbon offset schemes.
How our products are made
Our largest source of emissions, and therefore our largest opportunity, comes from how we make our product. We continue to reduce our emissions in this category, through reducing use and converting to lower carbon materials or energy supplier, with significant progress made across multiple targets this year:
- 65% of our garments will be converted to organic, low-impact, or recycled materials by 2025. All cotton will
be organic or recycled by 2030. - 50% of our garments will be made using renewable electricity by 2025, and 100% by 2030.
- 50% of our garments will be made by factories with certified energy management systems by 2025, and 100% by 2030.
- 100% of our factories will use environmentally optimal boilers by 2030, with all coal boilers in Tier 1 suppliers phased out in FY23, and in ancillary units (Tier 2) by 2030.
As we build our understanding of our impacts, using the Higg Index’s Material Sustainability Index (MSI), we are starting to track the effect of selecting the low-impact materials on our decarbonisation pathway and building this target into our SBT in FY23.
Around 10% of all our emissions come from our Tier 1 factories. Of that amount, electricity consumption from these factories accounts for 2-3% of our total emissions, with the balance (7-8%) coming from heating (eg boilers).
- 14% of our garments in FY22 were made using renewable electricity. Forward supplier agreements are in place to achieve our 2025 target of 50%.
- We remain on track with our plan to extend certified energy savings through our supply chain. This year we increased the number of our factories certified to ISO50001 to 22, covering 47% of our production. The average annual energy saving tracked per factory is 15%.
- In FY22 we started tracking which factories use coal fired boilers. We only identified one factory where this is the case and we are working with them to remove this in FY23.
How our products are used
How our customers use their garments to maintain them and keep them in circulation for as long as possible has a significant impact.
Our emissions from this category are slightly higher than industry peers. However, Superdry is proud that we produce quality garments that are crafted to last, and we want our garments to be loved and worn many times by our consumers. This results in increased levels of washing and
drying over the lifetime of the garment.
We are undertaking some durability studies to help understand how long-lasting our products are. This might possibly increase our emissions in this category, but ultimately reduce a customer’s own carbon footprint as they need to purchase fewer clothes in the first place, saving much more carbon than that associated with washing and maintaining their garments.
How we move our products
In FY23, we continued to take steps to reduce transport emissions further. We continue to use barges to move many of our shipments that arrive at Antwerp (Belgium) to our warehouse in Grobbendonk (known as ‘The Baron’).
n FY22, 42% of these containers were moved by barge, reducing the carbon emissions from that leg of the journey by 56%.
We also successfully reduced airfreight to just 1% of all inbound freight in FY23. This is 94% lower than the reported industry average of 17%. We are continuing to explore lower carbon routes to move our product from source to sale.
Renewable and efficient stores, offices and third-party distribution centres
By 2025, 100% of the energy we use across our stores, offices, and third-party DCs will be from renewable sources. In FY23, we achieved 93% renewable energy.
Our global stores and offices have used 100% renewable electricity since 2017, and when combined with our remaining purchased heating and cooling and small amounts of gas, our stores are using 98% renewable energy.
In FY23, 69% of the total energy (electricity, gas and diesel) used in our DCs & CCs was from renewable sources, which has increased from last year.
Over the next three years we have committed to a million-pound investment into two tried and tested technologies: LED lighting and Building Management Systems (BMS). We’ve now installed BMS in 52% and LED in 76% of our own retail estate. This has helped us reduce our global energy footprint (per square metre) by 21% in our own stores and offices between 2017 and 2023, saving more than 6.3 million kWh in total.
We will now maximise this with installations across 100% of our sites and main distribution warehouses, fully optimising energy and reducing electricity consumption by 25% by 2025.
Offsetting our remaining emissions
Our current focus is on reduction and conversion; we will be looking for opportunities to support meaningful offsetting programmes closer to our milestones and goal.
We know there are a lot of opportunities; once we have explored every opportunity to reduce and convert, we will then ensure that we offset any remaining carbon through meaningful and impactful collaborations.
Setting a Science Based Target (SBT)
This year we are currently having our Scope 1, 2 and 3 targets validated by SBTI, using our full understanding of our emissions, to ensure our decarbonisation pathway is aligned with a 1.5°c temperature rise.
For full information on our emissions and energy usage, including mandatory disclosures, please refer to Our Sustainability Performance section within our FY23 Annual Report.
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