Ralph Lauren is ditching a high-profile target to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, saying it will instead double down on more concrete, nearer-term climate commitments.
Going forward, the company said its focus will be on rolling five-year targets to curb planet-warming greenhouse-gas emissions in line with global ambitions to cap atmospheric heating at levels that avoid a climate crisis. The American luxury business announced the news Thursday alongside the launch of its latest sustainability report.
“This approach is intended to deliver impactful results and drive accountability,” the company said in a statement. It has already exceeded its current target to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 30 percent by 2030, compared to a 2020 baseline.
The company has also softened its language around diversity, equity and inclusion, replacing that phrase with “belonging and equity” in its latest sustainability report and removing specific targets for the proportion of diverse candidates that should be considered when hiring for senior roles or requesting supplier proposals.
Ralph Lauren’s goals relating to belonging and equity have “remained consistent with years prior,” the company’s global chief impact and communications officer, Katie Ioanilli, said in an email.
Ralph Lauren’s is the latest in a string of corporate adjustments to sustainability commitments, as companies grapple with a slew of political, regulatory and economic challenges that are throwing up new hurdles for flashy pledges made in the wake of the UN’s Paris Agreement to tackle climate change.
British e-tailer Asos and footwear brand Crocs both reset their net-zero commitments in 2023, respectively noting that their initial targets didn’t align with tightening standards or business reality. This year, a host of banks and big oil companies have walked away from initiatives set up to create a collective push towards net zero. In May, Under Armour quietly announced it was reconsidering its emissions strategy and would not seek to re-validate its current reduction targets with the Science Based Targets initiative, the world’s leading arbiter of corporate climate standards. The sportswear brand did not indicate when it might provide an updated climate strategy.
Companies have cited a mix of reasons to justify the shifts, from a lack of regulatory action to support long-term climate ambitions to litigation risk and a lack of clarity over how robust targets should be set and met. Any reset reflects efforts to ensure goals are credible and realistic, they say.
Ralph Lauren said it remains focused on meeting the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. The company’s emissions have come down 34 percent since 2020, thanks to a combination of factors, including an elevation strategy that prioritised fewer and higher-quality products, initiatives focused on helping suppliers reduce their carbon footprint and efforts to use lower-impact materials, the company said. Its current 2030 commitments means it must maintain that progress, even as it aims for growth that would put the business on track to reach $10 billion in sales by the end of the decade.
“We are proud of the progress we’ve made in reducing emissions and remain committed to sustaining these reductions through our target deadline,” Ioanilli said. “We intend to set a new goal for 2035 against our baseline in a few years, as access to improved data collection and technical infrastructure enables us to set a more accurate target.”
The company will provide a fuller update on its sustainability strategy early next year.
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