have joined forces to back a new program called The Future Supplier Initiative, a collective financing model to help garment manufacturing, spinning and knitting facilities in Bangladesh transition to renewable energy.
“No single company can really push this and now we hope that by teaming up, by having bigger volumes, by touching some of the same suppliers deeper in the supply chain, we hope that we can get to make the investments that we feel are needed,” he said. The program will focus its first-year efforts on identifying projects with the highest potential for impact, creating the tech specs for transition, and putting in place the financial backing for suppliers. The second year will focus on implementation and quantifying the impact of the investments on both the emissions and business returns side.
“It’s very difficult as a business if we’re not allowed to be successful. Every business is trying very hard to be successful. So this volume discussion is a very difficult one,” said Povlsen.