H&M at World Water Week
For H&M, responsible water use is essential. H&M will participate at the World Water Week in Stockholm this week about this year’s theme: Water for Development. How the role of water is highlighted in the new set of Sustainable Development Goals will be an important discussion during the week. 2015 is also target year for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, where water undoubtedly plays a central role.
The World Economic Forum has ranked water scarcity as the biggest global risk. Operating in a water-intense industry, we have a responsibility to not only reduce water impacts across our value chain, but also help the communities along our value chain ensure that clean water is available to those who need it.
During World Water Week, H&M will take part in panel discussions during the seminar “Managing Business Water Risk through Collaboration”, together with CEO Water Mandate and our partner, conservation organisation WWF. Together with GAP, Levi’s and SIWI, we will also participate in a session titled “New Paradigm: Incentivizing Improvements in Low and Middle Income Countries”.
After a couple of years in partnership with WWF, we are well on our way to realizing the vision of becoming the fashion industry’s leading water steward. H&M’s water strategy is a game changer in the fashion industry. It marks an evolution in the corporate approach to water, according to WWF, as it takes the whole supply chain into account and goes far beyond the factory lines. H&M does this to protect the environment, minimize risks in our operations and to secure the availability of water.
To get an overview of what H&M means by water stewardship – check out this film.
Responsible water use is essential for H&M – about two thirds of the factories that make clothes for us using wet processes are located in areas experiencing water stress. If we want to have a successful business in the future, we need to properly manage practices in our value chain today. This is a reality for many industries. During World Water Week, we hope to inspire others to take a similar approach, and to be part of the solution.
To learn more about our efforts within water, go to hm.com/water.
For information about World Water Week, visit worldwaterweek.org.