H&M Group participates in million-dollar LEAF Coalition deal with Pará, Brazil

In line with our commitment to actively fight climate change and protect nature, H&M Group addresses absolute emission reduction and biodiversity loss with holistic actions that go beyond sourcing raw materials in ways that protect nature and biodiversity and decarbonizing the group’s supply chain.

We are excited to be among the first companies to support the fight against deforestation in the Amazon with the LEAF Coalition and the deal with Pará in Brazil. At H&M Group, we recognize the deep connection between biodiversity and climate. This is why we follow a holistic approach working towards our goals to achieve net-zero emissions and contribute to the global goals of biodiversity. We are committed to do our part in fighting climate change and protecting nature. LEAF is a great example of scaling innovation and collaboration for progress. Protecting tropical forests offers one of the biggest opportunities for reducing emissions in the coming decade and we are proud to be a part of it.

Leyla Ertur, Director of Sustainability, H&M Group

Achieving deep and rapid reductions of GHG emissions across H&M Group’s value chain remains the company’s number one climate priority to achieve net-zero by 2040. However, the company acknowledges at the same time it is important to support nature-based solutions beyond its value chain when fighting global climate change, and that is why H&M Group joined the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition as a corporate partner in 2022. The purpose of this public-private initiative is to mobilize large-scale financing to countries committed to making ambitious reductions in tropical deforestation, recognizing the work of national and subnational governments in halting deforestation and engaging and sharing benefits with indigenous peoples and local communities. Urgently ending tropical deforestation is a crucial part of meeting the global climate goal, while also supporting sustainable development and protect biodiversity. Therefore, H&M Group combines the decarbonisation of its value chain and the sourcing of sustainably sourced materials with engaging in collaborations such as LEAF Coalition.

As the first state in Brazil, Pará signed an agreement to supply jurisdictional forest carbon credits to the LEAF Coalition. H&M Group together with other LEAF Coalition buyers including Amazon, Bayer, BCG and Capgemini have committed to purchasing 5 million emission reductions credits. Halting deforestation is considered an absolute necessity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and the Amazon is identified as one of the ecosystems that are critical to stabilize to avoid dangerous tipping points which could further accelerate climate change.

The LEAF Coalition deal with Pará was announced at Climate Week NYC. With its theme “It’s Time”, Climate Week NYC highlights the urgent need for climate progress, to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency. H&M Group’s chief of Sustainability Leyla Ertur and a delegation of the group’s climate and green investment experts are joining the event in New York together with business leaders, political change makers and civil society representatives to drive the transition and share about H&M Group’s latest progress on its journey towards achieving net-zero.

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