H&M, Inditex and Stellantis lead weak pack on climate integrity, study finds

Assessment of transition plans by companies in tech, fashion, agri and autos finds all to be lacking ‘reasonable’ integrity 

Dutch carmaker Stellantis and fashion giants H&M and Inditex have been named the companies with the most credible climate strategies in their sectors. 

The findings are the result of an assessment of 20 major firms across technology, apparel, agriculture and automotives, by NGOs the New Climate Institute and Carbon Market Watch. 

The pair’s latest annual Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor report paints a bleak picture overall, with none of the 20 deemed to have climate plans with “high” or “reasonable” integrity. 

The report suggests that emissions reduction targets are “no longer fit for purpose” because of “persistent structural obstacles such as incomplete emissions disclosure and sector-specific accounting malpractices”.

“It [is] increasingly difficult to understand what these targets really mean,” it concluded.   

Last year, European energy firms Enel and Iberdrola were classed as “reasonable”, but were out of scope of this year’s analysis.   

Instead, most companies, including Nestlé, Volkswagen, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, were found to have “low integrity” strategies. 

Shein, PepsiCo, Toyota and JBS were all classed as having “very low integrity” plans. 

A spokesperson for Nestlé told Real Economy Progress it disagreed with the conclusions of the report, which it does not believe reflect its efforts towards and commitment to net zero. 

“Our progress is clear: we have reduced GHG emissions by 20.38% versus 2018, one year ahead of our target, and we have sourced 21.3% of our key ingredients from farmers adopting regenerative agriculture practices, one year ahead of our target as well,” said the spokesperson.

Microsoft declined to comment, directing REP to its latest sustainability report. 

The other companies have not responded at the time of writing.

New Climate Institute and Carbon Market Watch highlighted Stellantis’s commitment to reduce its absolute emissions by 30% by the end of the decade, across all scopes.

They said Inditex, which owns fast fashion retailers including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Bershka, had made “significant improvements” to its targets, as well as setting clean electricity procurement targets for itself and its supply chain. 

Rival H&M was praised for improving transparency on supply chain emissions and providing more detail about its progress towards targets for sourcing recycled or sustainably-sourced materials. 

The report questioned whether H&M’s plan to increase sales by 10% annually was compatible with its commitment to a circular economy. 

A spokesperson for the firm told REP it aims “to decouple our financial growth and profitability from the use of resources”, claiming that last year it achieved 89% “recycled or sustainably sourced materials in our products”. 

Its goal is to reach 100% by 2030.