Climate Change
Reducing our impact on climate change
At G-Star, we recognize the critical role we play in mitigating climate change and the importance of reducing our carbon footprint. As a result, we focus our climate impact work on our supply chain and consumer engagement, while also taking steps in our own offices and stores.
Science Based Targets
In July 2019, G-Star RAW signed the UN Fashion Charter, pledging to meet emission reduction targets to align with the latest climate science – limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. In November 2022, G-Star submitted its carbon reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and the targets were validated in July 2023. Our partner, RESET Carbon Ltd. supported us throughout the process, creating an in-depth analysis of our carbon emissions, with 2021 set as our baseline year.
2023 Carbon Footprint Calculations:
Carbon accounting is broken down into three categories, defined by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol standard: Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3.
- Scope 1 includes GHG emissions directly emitted from G-Star owned and controlled operations (e.g., burning of fossil fuels when driving company cars, purchased electricity for stores)
- Scope 2 includes indirect GHG emissions from the generation of electricity, heat and steam purchased by G-Star
- Scope 3 includes indirect GHG emissions resulting from G-Star's activities that occur outside the company’s immediate control – (e.g., purchased goods and services, transport and distribution, business travel, employee commuting, use of sold products)
The guidelines for conducting this analysis were provided by international standards, along with accurate data and robust estimation methods.
Furthermore, to ensure the validity of our results, the 2023 carbon inventory was verified by a 3rd party – Carbon Footprint Ltd.
Carbon Footprint Ltd. provided limited assurance for the 2023 carbon inventory, according to the ISO 14064-3:2019 Standard, meaning that G-Star's GHG emissions statement is:
- Materially correct, and is a fair representation of the GHG emissions data
- Prepared in accordance with the GHG Protocol
It is of Carbon Footprint Ltd.’s opinion that G-Star RAW has established appropriate systems for the collection, aggregation, and analysis of quantitative data for determination of GHG emissions for the 2023 period and boundaries.
Scope 1 & 2 Emissions:
Over 115 owned and operated G-Star locations were included in the 2023 reporting period. The table below has a breakdown of the locations, and countries.
| Site Type | Number of site(s) |
|---|---|
| Mono Brand Store | 54 |
| Office | 5 |
| Office/Showroom | 4 |
| Outlet | 44 |
| Showroom | 1 |
| Warehouse | 2 |
| TOTAL | 110 |
| Country | Number of site(s) |
|---|---|
| Austria | 2 |
| Bangladesh | 1 |
| Belgium | 12 |
| Canada | 2 |
| China | 1 |
| France | 21 |
| Germany | 11 |
| Japan | 17 |
| Macau | 1 |
| Netherlands | 21 |
| South Africa | 5 |
| Spain | 2 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| USA | 13 |
| TOTAL | 110 |
In 2023, Scope 1 and 2 emissions amounted to 2.527 tCO2e for location-based emissions and 1.860 tCO2e for market-based emissions. Compared to 2022, this represents a 5% increase in location-based emissions and a significant 40% decrease in market-based emissions. Relative to the baseline year of 2021, there is a 21% reduction in location-based emissions and a 50% reduction in market-based emissions. This is a significant step, as it means that G-Star has already achieved its Scope 1 and 2 market-based emissions SBTi target and is on a good pathway to meet its location-based emissions SBTi target with these reductions.
Scope 3 Emissions:
Similar to the previous year, G-Star’s carbon footprint in 2023 was primarily driven by Scope 3 emissions, which accounted for 98% of the company’s total emissions. Compared to 2022, Scope 3 emissions decreased by 1% and were 13% lower than the baseline year of 2021.
There are 15 categories included in Scope 3 GHG Protocol standard. However, not all are relevant to G-Star's business model (e.g., investments and processing of sold products). The categories deemed relevant to G-Star's business model can be seen below:
| SBTi Scope 3 Category | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | % change YoY |
% change vs Baseline (2021) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat 1 - |
35.836 | 37.943 | 40,061 | 6% | 12% |
| Cat 1 - |
13.249 | 14.469 | 16.047 | 11% | 21% |
| Cat 1 -Other | 13.003 | 17.753 | 1.207 | -84% | -91% |
| Cat 2 - Capital Goods* | 1.688 | - | 2.546 | - | 51 |
| Cat 3 - Fuel- and energy related | 626 | 703 | 788 | 12% | 26% |
| Cat 4 - Upstream transportation** | 24.865 | 11.351 | 9.963 | -12% | -60% |
| Cat 5 - Waste | 709 | 188 | 20 | -89% | -97% |
| Cat 6 - Business travel | 222 | 567 | 372 | -35% | 124% |
| Cat 7 - Employee commuting | 2.513 | 3.209 | 2.702 | -16% | 8% |
| Cat 11 - Use of sold products | 21.987 | 25.206 | 27.156 | 8% | 24% |
| Cat 12 - End-of-life of sold products | 847 | 914 | 845 | -8% | 0% |
| Cat 14 - Franchises | 1.202 | 732 | 528 | -28% | -56% |
| TOTAL | 116.889 | 103.035 | 102.235 | -1% | -13% |
Total Scope 3 emissions and comparison vs 2022 and baseline year (2021).
* Category 2 – Capital Goods was added to G-Star’s carbon inventory during SBTi target validation, covering assets such as office/store furniture and office/store hardware.
** Category 4 – Upstream transportation covers both upstream and downstream emissions from 3rd party transportation and distribution paid by G-Star.
*** At SBTi’s request, Category 13 – Downstream leased assets were removed from G-Star’s carbon inventory because they related to the emissions of tenants at G-Star’s HQ in Amsterdam. Since energy and heating suppliers are defined by G-Star and tenants cannot switch suppliers, these emissions are now accounted for within G-Star’s Scope 1 and 2 inventory.
Among the Scope 3 categories, Category 1 (Purchased goods and services) had the highest contribution, accounting for 56% of the total, followed by Category 11 (Use of sold products) at 27% and Category 4 (Upstream transportation) at 10%. Altogether, they account for 93% of total 2023 scope 3 emissions.
In terms of materials (Tier 3&4), cotton amounted to 56% of total material emissions, with BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) cotton at 41% of the total. This can be attributed to the large quantities that we source.
For further and detailed information regarding G-Star's carbon emissions, including data quality, calculation methodologies, and methodology updates, please refer to the G-Star RAW 2023 Sustainability Report.