The Energy and Carbon Benchmark is designed to help reduce the fashion industry’s carbon footprint by providing clearer metrics to measure supplier performance and energy efficiency.
The tool allows the calculation of process-level performance, distinguishing between facilities that carry out singular or multiple processing activities on-site. According to Aii, the aim is to establish consistent metrics and support collective progress toward industry-wide decarbonisation.
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The launch comes as apparel sector emissions rose nearly 8% in 2023 compared with the previous year, representing close to 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Aii’s 2025 annual update on the industry’s progress.
The institute said this marked the first significant increase in the sector’s emissions since it began tracking them, highlighting the need for a unified value-chain approach to addressing fashion’s environmental impact.
The benchmark provides transparent and independent data to help analyse production across textile suppliers, including tailored benchmark figures for facilities based on energy sources, material types and manufacturing processes.
Additional capabilities include tracking total factory energy use and emissions profiles, performance data for individual departments and monitoring performance over time with comparisons across facilities and regions.
Jimmy Summers, vice-president of environment, health, safety and sustainability at Elevate Textiles, said: “This benchmarking tool helps suppliers to objectively determine where they are in their sustainability journey, which in turn can support further cost-effective interventions, resulting in more effective energy solutions, improved efficiency, and decreased emissions. By communicating supplier performance to brands, Aii’s tool will help the industry to further recognise the importance of suppliers in apparel’s net-zero journey, resulting in additional and effective support and momentum for supplier decarbonisation.”
The benchmark is also designed to encourage brands and suppliers to invest in decarbonisation at the supplier level by measuring the performance of supply chain partners.
Brands including H&M Group, American Eagle Outfitters, Gap Inc., Target Corporation, J.Crew Group and PVH Corp. took part in the pilot phase alongside suppliers including Elevate and KPI Mills in late 2025.
Henrik Sundberg, climate impact lead at H&M Group, said the benchmark addresses a longstanding challenge for the sector: “When it comes to industry decarbonisation efforts, fashion historically hasn’t been able to clearly define what ‘good’ energy efficiency looks like. Aii’s Benchmark, created in partnership with the apparel sector, establishes those baselines backed by data. The Benchmark is a meaningful tool that accelerates brand and supplier decarbonization with transparency and clarity,” Sundberg said.
Kurt Kipka, chief impact officer at Aii, commented: “This methodology provides a structured, quantitative and yet simple way for the fashion industry to assess energy use and carbon reduction opportunities. Ultimately, we hope that one day all suppliers, no matter how big or small, see the business value in tracking and communicating their carbon performance using this Benchmark.”
The benchmark builds on existing industry data and tools and draws on energy performance data from verified sources, including the Higg Index. It was developed through an open process involving manufacturers, technical experts and industry partners to reflect real operating conditions across the sector.
