The Fashion Pact has named H&M Group CEO Helena Helmersson co-chair of its steering committee, according to a Tuesday news release.
Helmersson, who has been with H&M since 2020, succeeds Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault in the role. Pinault, the Fashion Pact’s co-founder, will remain on the group’s steering committee.
The Fashion Pact is a CEO-led fashion industry initiative calling for a vast cut to emissions across its value chains. It was founded in 2020, after being presented to heads of state at the G7 Summit in 2019 by French President Emmanuel Macron. The steering committee consists of 15 CEOs meant to represent all segments of the industry, according to the release.
Helmersson joins Co-Chair Paul Polman, previously CEO of Unilever, and Eva von Alvensleben, executive director and secretary general.
“In today’s urgent climate context, we need to work together to tackle challenges that one company alone can’t solve,” Helmersson said in the release. “Now is the time to build on the great progress that has been achieved so far and accelerate emission reduction and decarbonisation activity deeper down the value chain.”
The Fashion Pact has urged its members to implement science-based targets to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, including achieving 100% renewable energy across the membership by 2030, the release states.
Another of its targets is for 25% of raw materials to have a lower climate impact by 2025. It also aims to eliminate unnecessary plastics in B2C packaging by 2025 and B2B packaging by 2030. Also, by 2030, the group looks to have at least half of its plastic packaging use 100% recycled content.
In 2020, the pact reached its goal of developing an individual biodiversity blueprint.
The Fashion Pact’s membership, which includes over 200 brands, is 83% brands, 8% retailers and 9% suppliers across 17 countries, according to the release. Members include Adidas, OTB Group and PVH Corp.
