Fashion brands pause use of sustainability index tool over greenwashing claims

theguardian.com:

An alliance of major fashion brands has announced that it is pausing its use of a tool to measure garments’ sustainability after critics described it as greenwashing.

Until this week, shoppers could go on to H&M’s website and check the environmental impact of 655 of its garments, as rated by the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI), a suite of tools launched last year by a global non-profit alliance, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).

For example, one pair of cotton shorts was described as using “88% less [water] than conventional materials”; its global warming impact was “14% less than conventional materials”.

However, the SAC has announced that it is “pausing” its product-labelling tool after the Norwegian Consumer Authority (NCA) warned H&M Group two weeks ago against using the Higg index to support its environmental claims. It addded that if it was still using such marketing by 1 September, it would risk economic sanctions.

Although Norway’s consumer watchdog did not investigate H&M’s claims, it did so with those of a Norwegian outdoor brand, Norrøna (who also used the Higg index on its website). It concluded that the data was misleading to consumers and the claims unsubstantiated.

Although H&M and Norrøna were the first brands to embed the rating system on their product pages, SAC also counts Nike, Primark, Walmart, Boohoo, Amazon and Tommy Hilfiger among its 250 members.

Fashion sustainability activists are rejoicing after SAC’s announcement, having been complaining about its methodology – which assesses the lifecycle of a product – since last spring, describing it as greenwashing.

“If you think of a lifecycle assessment as a clock face, the Higg MSI is only looking at midday to 3pm – only a very selective