“The creation of a business environment based on life cycle thinking, establishing a platform for the research and development of raw materials and products that that will foster circularity from conceptualisation to end of use.”
The iFarmaissance®
Sustainability Strategy
The Need
We are just eighteen months into our journey but our bold plans for the way we want to see our brand evolve have not deviated, and we remain committed to our long term ambition for a net zero transition. The only change is the timeline, 2050 now seems too far away, so we are now targeting 2025 interim targets and net zero by 2030 with an intention to review these targets year by year to reduce them even further. The problem right now is that globally, not only is there is an imbalance between GHG’s produced and those absorbed but this has been happening for some time and is producing a continuing build-up of GHG’s. This will continue with disastrous consequences if no action is taken and is the reason behind the calls for targets to reduce emissions to net zero (initially by 2050 in the case of the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015) and more recently by calls for more accelerated action.
The principal defining goals of the Paris Agreement to reach net zero emissions by 2050 are:
- Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 deg. C above pre-industrial levels and pushing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 deg. C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this will significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change
- Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low GHG emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and
- Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
Most of our carbon emissions relate to Scope 3, upstream in our supply chain with resources and production and downstream in the delivery of products and end-of-use. Our GHG reduction strategies are divided into 4 Priority Areas:
- Waste Utilisation and Reduction
- Regenerative Agriculture
- New Generation Renewable Materials
- Clean Energy
We have also identified 2 Secondary Areas requiring action but representing hard the hard to abate areas of fossil fuel residues in raw materials and transportation. This includes an exploration of Carbon Offsets and their use – see below under Our Approach - Framework for the Future – Carbon Offsets.
Our Ambitions
Our focus is UN Sustainability Development Goal No.13 - Climate Change, which starts powerfully by stating "For many, a warming climatic system is expected to impact the availability of basic necessities like freshwater, food security and energy ...". Almost all SDG’s impact, or are impacted by, climate change and the fashion industry and are an important benchmark for determining the action we take on these Priority Areas.
Our philosophy with regard to addressing these priorities are based on these principles:
“Dream big, embrace collaborations and innovate based on “best practices“ for the industry
Dream big: We're driving transformative change in material research and development instead of making incremental tweaks. We are looking for changes that can be applied throughout the fashion sector and beyond.
Collaborate: We can’t do it alone. Through collaboration across the iFarmaissance® team and partnerships up and down the supply chain we will positively impact emissions targets.
Innovate: Initiate and build a capacity to innovate and drive processes that turn simple ideas in ground-breaking new processes and technologies
Priority Areas
- Waste Utilisation and Reduction
The goal of sustainable waste management is to reduce the amounts of natural resources consumed, re-using the materials taken from nature as much as possible, and creating the minimum waste possible.
We are making a three-pronged attack on waste resources. Firstly we are working on projects that will use the waste from a variety of different sources, food and beverage waste, unused portions of raw food crops and regenerative agriculture as feedstocks for the production of new-generation alternative materials. Secondly is the reduction or elimination of excess water usage along our entire supply chain and thirdly continuing reassessment of wastage related to production offcuts as well as the streamlining of our packaging.
Our medium to long term objective is to own our production facilities or form partnerships with our factories to directly influence and set the standards for waste management.
- Regenerative Agriculture
In farming, new methodologies and technologies are consistently being introduced. There is a need to match the suitability of these techniques to the environment in which we are operating. What works in urban or peri-urban areas cannot necessarily be applied to traditional and broad-acre farming scenarios.
We know that agricultural practices today are far from perfect. While we acknowledge this challenge, scalable, highly-productive, and regenerative agricultural operations have been proven there are still environmental issues. The shortcomings of today’s systems should not blind us from realizing the unrivalled potential of soil systems to capture atmospheric carbon. Enhancing soil systems is very likely the most powerful tool available to humanity in our fight against climate change.
- New Generation Renewable Materials
Similarly in the fashion industry, many alternative materials and fabrics are now available which offer environmental benefits but often come also with negative impacts – cost, lack of durability, non-biodegradability and different but just as dangerous pollutants. Each product needs to be carefully evaluated to ensure it is the most appropriate in terms of sustainability outcomes over the longer term. We strongly believe that there is no single solution to all of the issues.
The materials used by the fashion industry have long been an issue with respect to animal welfare issues as well as the pollutants that potentially affect workers’ health and the environment. Innovation in material science provides an enormous opportunity to impact and transform the way we produce these materials. Our interest lies specifically in biobased resources and the use of biomimicry techniques to truly revolutionise the processing technologies for the new materials and we are researching and investing in these areas.
Our founder, Jennifer Gardner completed the Business and Climate Change: Towards Net Zero Emissions Course at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), University of Cambridge and for her final Assignment produced an Action Plan for R & D of Biobased Leather Alternatives which was granted a full mark of 100%. It is now supported by The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, in conjunction with The HKSAR Innovation and Technology Commission together with professors of City University of Hong Kong, to bring this plan to life in a real life scenario and to contribute to a global decarbonisation solution.
- Clean Energy
We currently source all raw materials from third party suppliers and have no ownership of the production facilities that make our handbags and accessories. As a consequence, the challenge for us is maintain a continuous dialogue with our suppliers and work with them to encourage education and research of renewable energy sources and the application to their operations. To support their operations we offer long term production contracts related to their adoption of responsible energy solutions.
As identified above it is our medium to long term objective is to own our production facilities or form partnerships with our factories to directly influence and set the standards for clean energy use.
Operational: Offices, Warehouse and Showroom
As a very small company, our physical office, warehousing and showroom facilities are not extensive and remain tightly controlled. Our carbon footprint under Scope 1 and Scope 2 is low but we are conscious as we grow of accessing and monitoring our energy use based on renewable resources.
Manufacturing: Supply Chain
Our manufacturing partners represent to largest potential source of emissions, as a Scope 3 emitter and as we have addressed above we are actively engaging with all upstream manufacturers to implement best practices across materials, social values, energy and environmental factors. This is a priority and ongoing.
Transportation:
Transportation is probably the biggest concern for us in terms of the potential for significant carbon emissions, both in accessing our raw materials and in distributing our products to our customers. It is also an area over which we have the least control, relying entirely on third party operators.
Firstly, actively lobby and target operators to work with, that pursue decarbonisation strategies and form partnerships that encourage this action.
Secondly, we are actively working to create proximity based solutions for the production of the raw materials required for our products. We envisage farms close to processing facilities, close to material production facilities and close to handbag production factories. This is a key part of our “New Generation Renewable Materials” R & D strategy.
Product Use:
Handbags and accessories are generally low maintenance over their life and product use emissions
Are estimated to be quite low. Our Product Care instructions emphasise the low care requirements “This product is highly organic and requires care the same as your skin. Wipe clear with a damp cloth. Use a cloth moistened with water and wrung well, and wipe gently to clean the product surfaces. Use only mild soap, never bleach or alcohol.
