Amazon, Kohl’s Among SBTi Commitment Removals
Apparel suppliers and retailers are among those stunted by science-based targets reporting deadlines.
The Science Based Targets initiative is a public reporting initiative to help corporations set science-based emissions reductions targets in line with the Paris Agreement. The organization was formed in 2015 by the CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund.
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SBTi recently publicly flagged 100 organizations — including Amazon and Kohl’s — for not laying out their emissions targets in a timely manner. The companies can be searched via SBTi’s database with red font indicating “Commitment Removed.” More than 5,000 companies across sectors use the platform.
The organization enacted a new “Commitment Compliance Policy” in January so that it is visible to stakeholders when companies either fail to comply or opt out of reporting, rather than simply removing them from the website without a trace. SBTi gave firms an extension timeline to July 31 upon announcing the policy in January.
As of Aug. 9, 120 companies had commitments removed. The data is updated every Thursday. There are seven apparel players with commitments removed including Alkaram Towel Industries Ltd., Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd., Sapphire Finishing Mills Ltd., Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd., SCM Garments PVT Ltd., Taiga Apparel Ltd. and The Schneider Group. (Alkaram Towel Industries supplies to Walmart while SCM Garments supplies to Hanesbrands and Jockey. Sapphire Finishing Mills’ customers include Red Wing Shoes, per shipping data from ImportYeti). Two retailers, Amazon and Kohl’s, had commitments removed.
In 2020, Amazon committed to setting voluntary science-based targets with SBTi. “We have continued to work with SBTi throughout this time to determine appropriate submission guidelines and methodologies for complex businesses like Amazon, however it remains difficult for us to submit in a meaningful and accurate way,” Amazon staff wrote in a recent blog post. “We will continue to work with SBTi to establish a path forward for submission, and we believe there’s a role to play for organizations like theirs. We’re also not pulling back or slowing down — in tandem to this ongoing work with SBTi, we’ll also seek to set science-based targets with other organizations and credible third-party validators.”
Kohl’s joined SBTi in July 2021. In March 2022, at Kohl’s Investor meeting, the company took it a step further by committing to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. It is unclear whether Kohl’s Inc. will continue to work with SBTi to refine its reporting. The company could not be reached by publication time for comment on its commitment removal.
Along with adding the new compliance policy, SBTi continuously evolves its reporting criteria.
“The new policy makes it clear where companies have committed to set targets but then failed to comply,” SBTi said in a press release. “Not only does this increase transparency and accountability around commitments and eventual validation, it acts as a major disincentive for companies to make commitments without taking action.”
SBTI’s statement underscored that regardless of the status of the commitment, a target can still be submitted and approved. “It is by no means the end of the story for any company.”
