But I thought jeans were tough? How could climate change harm them too?

How could climate change possibly impact a company that makes jeans?

While Levi Strauss & Co. is a fashion brand, it is highly dependent on the agricultural industry. The key material used in the production of the clothing produced by Levi’s is cotton. In fact, cotton accounts for 95% of the material used up in the supply chain of Levi’s. [1] Like other crops, cotton is at great risk due to the negative impacts of climate change, whether it is from changes in temperature, lower water supply, or increased frequency of catastrophic weather events like droughts or hurricanes. Together these phenomenons could have a multiplier effect that would greatly harm the production of cotton. For example in the United States, the third largest producer of cotton in the world, climate change is expected to change weather patterns by way of increased incidence of extreme weather events and frequency of high temperature days. [2] This will have a particularly negative impact in cotton yields in the Southwest US where the production is highly dependent on water supply for irrigation. [3]

Levi Strauss & Co.’s reliance on cotton exacerbates the problem due to the fact that the manufacturing and distribution of cotton products contributes to the emissions that are causing climate change to happen in the first place. Cotton production accounts for up to 1% of the total greenhouse emissions across the globe. [4] Manufacturing and distribution are responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions emanating from Levi’s supply chain. (Figure 1 shows the 2011 breakdown of emissions by supply chain stage at Levi’s)

 

Figure 1 [5]

Climate change also poses a threat to the rest of the supply chain because their manufacturing facilities are located in developing countries like India and Vietnam, in which the negative effects of climate change are already noticeable. [6]

How has Levi’s addressed these concerns?

In 2012 Levi’s announced a plan to confront the threats posed by climate change on two fronts. First, they sought to decrease their greenhouse gas emissions across their operations and their supply chain. In the short to medium term they announced three key goals: cut emissions in all steps of the supply chain excluding manufacturing by 25% by 2020, set a target of an annual 5% reduction in emissions per unit in the manufacturing process, and set out to purchase 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. [7] Their long term goal is to eventual purchase 100% of their energy from renewable sources. [8] This increased energy efficiency would also benefit their bottom line, they saved $1.3 million in energy costs alone in their distribution centers from 2007 to 2011 by cutting emissions by 27%. [9]

Levi’s realized that they alone can’t make enough of a difference to combat the threats posed by this megatrend. Therefore they have both helped found or joined advocacy groups aimed at increasing commitments to reducing emissions amongst businesses and governments. [10]

Levi’s has also focused on reducing the emissions due to their suppliers through their supply chain. They collect water and energy usage data from the 63 highest volume and strategic partner in order to asses the sustainability strategies in place and to share best practices. Levi’s ranks the suppliers and provides each of them with a one-page assessment of their energy and water use per unit. [11] These efforts led a large number of their suppliers to reduce their emissions by 30% by 2012, and Levi’s has kept up the annual reports and rankings since then. [12]

What else and they do?

Due to the negative impact of cotton production, manufacturing, and distribution, I would recommend Levi’s strongly investigate the potential to lessen its dependence of cotton as its main material. This will also be important as cotton yields decrease due to climate change and prices increase. If they can reduce their need for cotton and promote the use of a more sustainable raw material, they will really be able to have the positive impact on the environment and their costs that they are striving for.  

In the end, how much can they really do?

Looking ahead, the main question I have is how much can Levi’s really do to affect the necessary change. As Figure 2 shows, the consumers are responsible for the majority of emissions in the product life of a pair of jeans.

 

Figure 2 [13]

Can the “Care for Our Planet” campaign [14] really do enough to educate people on more sustainable product care practices and more importantly, motivate them enough to actually implement them in their lives?

 

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[1] Levi Strauss & Co. “2012 Climate Change Strategy,” Levi Strauss & Co. Company Website, September 2012, http://levistrauss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2012-Climate-Change-Strategy.pdf, Accessed November 2017

[2] Peter Ton, “Cotton and Climate Change: Impacts and Options to Mitigate and Adapt,” International Trade Centre, July 2011, http://www.intracen.org/Cotton-and-Climate-Change-Impacts-and-options-to-mitigate-and-adapt/, Accessed November 2017

[3] Jennifer Chu, “Climate change to deplete some US water basins used for irrigation,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170712110454.htm, Accessed November 2017

[4] Peter Ton, “Cotton and Climate Change: Impacts and Options to Mitigate and Adapt,” International Trade Centre, July 2011, http://www.intracen.org/Cotton-and-Climate-Change-Impacts-and-options-to-mitigate-and-adapt/, Accessed November 2017

[5] Levi Strauss & Co. “2012 Climate Change Strategy,” Levi Strauss & Co. Company Website, September 2012, http://levistrauss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2012-Climate-Change-Strategy.pdf, Accessed November 2017

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid

[10] Ibid

[11] Ibid

[12] Ibid

[13] Ibid

[14] Ibid