18 September 2019
Burberry has been included in the 2019 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fifth consecutive year, ranked third place in the ‘Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods’ sector and achieving its highest score ever score in the Index. The leading global sustainability metric, the DJSI evaluates a company’s economic, environmental and social impact and is a trusted benchmark for investors who integrate sustainability considerations into their decision-making and investments.
Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer, Burberry, said: “I am proud that Burberry has been included in the 2019 Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the fifth year running. The improvements we are making year on year are a testament to the deep and lasting commitment of everyone at Burberry to support our communities and protect the environment. We all have a role in building a more sustainable future and as a company with strong values and creativity at our core, at Burberry, we have the will and determination to help achieve this goal.”
Burberry has a longstanding commitment to sustainability, with social and environmental programmes in place for more than 15 years and its latest five-year Responsibility Agenda covering its products, global operations and the communities that sustain the luxury industry.
During 2018/19, Burberry reduced its market-based emissions by 43% and procured 58% of its total energy (including 68% of its electricity) from renewable sources. Burberry is now carbon neutral across the Americas region, its EMEIA retail stores and UK operations, and aims to be 100% carbon neutral by 2022. Building on this, Burberry recently set two new, ambitious climate goals approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) for its own operations and extended supply chain.
Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2020 show during London Fashion Week was certified as carbon neutral. Burberry offset its impacts, such as the flights of guests travelling to London specifically for the show and the build and production of the event, through VSC-certified REDD+ projects which prevent deforestation and conserve tropical rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon.
Driving a more circular economy for fashion is central to Burberry’s sustainability agenda and as part of this Burberry continues to expand ways to reuse, repair, donate and recycle products and materials. A founding member of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment which aims to eradicate plastic waste and pollution by 2025, Burberry is working to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging. This includes ensuring plastic in packaging can be easily reused, recycled or composted and circulating any plastic packaging so that it can be made into new packaging or products. Recently, Burberry launched new sustainable packaging made from 30m recycled coffee cups, with the resulting product fully recyclable and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Burberry is also committed to supporting the people and communities that sustain the luxury industry through youth inspiration, community cohesion and social and economic empowerment programmes. In the UK, The Burberry Foundation has engaged 65,000 students and teachers in Yorkshire through school workshops, teacher training, guest speaker sessions and work experience at Burberry. In Italy, 18,000 people have benefitted from new youth mentoring programmes and better access to community support services in Tuscany. In Afghanistan, the Burberry Foundation is working with Oxfam and PUR Projet to create a more equitable and sustainable cashmere industry, with 7,000 people benefitting from training on animal husbandry and harvesting so far.
A key figure in driving industry collaboration, Burberry is a founding signatory of the UNFCCC’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, a signatory of the UN Global Compact, and a core partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular initiative, working with industry and NGOs to address key impacts of the fashion industry. Burberry is also a signatory of The Fashion Pact, a global alliance between 32 of the world’s leading fashion companies to tackle climate change announced at the 2019 G7 Summit in Biarritz
Notes to Editors
a. Dow Jones Sustainability Indices: The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) are a family of best-in-class benchmarks for investors who have recognized that sustainable business practices are critical to generating long-term shareholder value and who wish to reflect their sustainability convictions in their investment portfolios. The family was launched in 1999 as the first global sustainability benchmark and tracks the stock performance of the world's leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. Created jointly by S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM, the DJSI combine the experience of an established index provider with the expertise of a specialist in Sustainable Investing to select the most sustainable companies from across 61 industries. The indices serve as benchmarks for investors who integrate sustainability considerations into their portfolios, and provide an effective engagement platform for investors who wish to encourage companies to improve their corporate sustainability practices.
b. Other Indices: Burberry is also a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index and the MSCI World ESG Leaders Index, participant in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), signatory of the UN Global Compact and of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, founding signatory of the UN Fashion Charter for Climate Action, member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, principal partner of the Living Wage Foundation, active member of The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project and core partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Make Fashion Circular Initiative.
c. Sustainability agenda:
In 2017, Burberry launched the responsibility agenda “Creating Tomorrow’s Heritage”, a five-year programme focusing on three ambitious goals:
a. Support one million people in the communities that sustain the wider luxury industry
b. Ensure 100% of Burberry’s products have more than one positive attribute by 2022
c. Invent new approaches to revaluing waste created in the production of luxury goods, whilst becoming carbon neutral in its own operations
Further information on Burberry's corporate responsibility programme can be found here.
