“The more time that goes by, the more reports from the scientists are clear – the planet has gone too far,” the chief executive, Marco Bizzarri, told the Guardian.
Companies often equate being carbon neutral – the action of removing the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they put in to it, whether it be from production, to transport to packaging – to offsetting its directly managed usage.
By incorporating its entire supply chain into its strategy, which includes external businesses such as the tanneries, Bizzarri says the brand is targeting the part of its production that causes the most damage. The company says the early supply chain currently accounts for 90% of its greenhouse gas emissions.
Gucci will be reliant on its environmental profit and loss report to identify where greenhouse gases are being emitted so they know which areas need to be reviewed as well as finding out what needs to be offset.
It will partner with Redd+ , a UN project to reduce emissions from deforestation, on four projects that support forest conservation in Peru, Kenya, Indonesia and Cambodia to offset carbon emissions it cannot eliminate.
Addressing the scepticism surrounding carbon offsetting, Bizzarri acknowledged that over time and with the advancement of technology, there will be improved ways to reduce emissions without the need of offsetting.
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“But if we wait to be perfect, in terms of the calculation of impact or methodology, to me it just an excuse for not doing it,” he said. “More and more, we just need to act. We are not perfect and it not a matter of saying we are the best, it a matter of showing it can be done, and hopefully [others] will follow this path.”
Potential ways in which technology will assist in future include lab-grown leather, which Bizzarri says currently is not of the quality or scalability the business requires. Another is an online alternative to its fashion shows. On average, 2,000 people attend its events four times a year in various locations around the world.
Gucci environmental profit and loss initiative has been operating since 2015 as a part of its 10-year sustainability strategy, which includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025.
Last year its annual report showed it was on track to do so, with emissions down by 16%. In some areas, it has implemented sustainable manufacturing and sourcing initiatives that avoided 440,125 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2018.
The brand was one of the 32 to sign up to the Fashion Pact last month. The initiative, spearheaded by François-Henri Pinault, chief executive of Kering, which owns Gucci, highlighted the urgent and collaborative action required to start making a tangible impact, a sentiment reiterated by Bizzarri who extended the invitation to protest groups such as Extinction Rebellion. The activist group has called for an end to the biannual showcase and plans to stage a funeral at London fashion week next Tuesday.
Bizzarri said: “The best thing is not to stop fashion week, but to have [them] at the table and to work together so we can do something together. That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t protest, I think it is a democracy and they should do it as long as it not violent. But to me, the final aim of all this should be activists and companies working together to find common ground.”