Presentation

Four Footprints Conference
Brussels 11th of February
Philip Chamberlain
Head of Sustainable Business Development
Water Footprint Assessment - helping us
to meet sustainability goals
Long-term Goal
By 2020, C&A will have a completed a robust
Water Footprint Assessment
of it’s Supply Chain,
and taken steps to reduce water use and pollution
When did we start this journey?
C&A became a sponsoring partner of
Water Footprint Network in 2010
By 2020
How does this process work?
4 distinct phases:
Setting Goals & Scope
Water Footprint Accounting
Water Footprint Sustainability Assessment
Water Footprint Response Formulation
Study 1
Water Footprint Assessment of C&A’s
Cotton Supply Chain
Study 2
A comparison of the Grey Water Footprint
comparing production of Organic vs. Conventional Cotton
Next steps
C&A Foundation signed a 3 year sponsorship of a
Water Footprint Strategy Programme with WFN
2013-2015
Capacity is being built to reduce and manage our Water Footprint by engaging
in 4 work streams:
1. Developing the guidance, training & tools necessary for cotton farmers to be able to
reduce and manage their WF
2. Developing the guidance, training & tools necessary for those involved in wet
processing to be able to reduce and manage their WF
3. Evaluating the Sustainability of non-cotton raw materials and conduct comparative
analysis of different fabric types
4. Define how to embed the goal of Sustainable, Efficient + Equitable water use
throughout C&A business activities
Target setting will also help to drive necessary responses
Possible examples:
 Target 1: reduce the WF of washing, dyeing and finishing mills by xx %
a) Establish a baseline for blue and grey WF for representative mills in C&A’s
supply chain
b) Develop guidelines for WF reduction measures
c) Set specific targets + measure outcomes
 Target 2: reduce the WF of cotton agriculture by xx %
 Target 3: reduce the WF of non-cotton raw material by xx %
 Target 4: develop a user-friendly tool to scale up WF reduction in C&A’s supply chain
(develop clothing-specific functionalities + data in the WFN tool)
…… helping “us” to meet Sustainability Goals
Disseminating training materials, guidance and tools
broadly to enable uptake across the industry
All outputs from these studies will be published, posted
on-line, presented at industry workshops + webinars, and
via WFN’s networks
Our 4 work streams together will empower us to
 Reduce the WF of raw materials and to contribute to the overall
reduction in water scarcity and water pollution levels in catchments
where suppliers are located
 Reduce the WF of wet processing in a similar way in catchment areas
where such mills are located
 Deliver change, at scale, through dissemination of guidelines & tools
 Embed the goal of sustainable, efficient and equitable water use
throughout our business activities
THANK YOU

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