The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has partnered with the Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather initiative, a collaborative effort launched by Textile Exchange and the Leather Working Group, to advance sustainable practices within the leather industry. WWF will actively engage with brand signatories to foster the development of supply chains that are free from deforestation, offering expert guidance, promoting collaboration, and establishing meaningful goals. The Leather initiative urges brands and retailers to commit to sourcing all bovine leather from deforestation-free supply chains by 2030, or even earlier.
Expressing their enthusiasm for joining the initiative to create deforestation and conversion-free supply chains, WWF emphasised their commitment to providing detailed expert guidance to signatories. They aim to support collaborative efforts and assist in setting realistic expectations as brands endeavour to combat deforestation and the conversion of natural ecosystems associated with cattle farming.
Renowned apparel brands such as All Saints, Adidas, American Eagle, Capri Holdings, Everlane, H&M, Kering, Mango, M&S, Puma, Reformation, and Tapestry have already pledged to the Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather. These brands will collaborate with suppliers to establish requirements for deforestation and conversion-free sourcing, define and achieve goals for mapping supply chains down to the slaughterhouse level, and meet investment targets to increase the use of conversion-free leather, especially at the farm level.
Additionally, these brands will implement traceability measures across their leather supply chains and provide annual progress reports through Textile Exchange’s Materials Benchmark tool.
