ArticleFebruary 1, 2023 Just Style Hannah Abdulla
The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) has opened its first call for applications for the Climate Solutions Portfolio, a soon-to-launch registry of proven carbon reduction solutions for the fashion industry.
Aii will use the Climate Solutions Portfolio as a data-backed tool to deploy grants from the catalytic Fashion Climate Fund, designed to raise $250m to de-risk and accelerate proven decarbonisation solutions, unlock up to $2bn of capital, and help to halve carbon emissions by 2030.
The Climate Solutions Portfolio will also serve as a public, transparent resource for brands, retailers, industry stakeholders, and external commercial financing partners looking to accelerate decarbonisation efforts.
Aii says the first round of applications, which closes in March 2023, is focused on solutions for materials, product innovations, energy efficiency improvements, and coal phase out via renewable thermal heat and renewable energy, with subsequent, biannual rounds to be focused on additional levers for carbon reduction.
To be eligible for the Climate Solutions Portfolio, organisations of any size and stage must submit high quality, verified data or estimates that demonstrate quantifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions around their solutions through Aii’s rigorous, strategically developed intake application.
“Some of the biggest industry challenges for effective carbon reduction are identifying science-based solutions, ensuring they are credible and prioritizing them for widespread adoption,” says Kurt Kipka, Aii chief impact officer. “Our aim with the Climate Solutions Portfolio is to complement our current global efforts and find, fund, and report on climate impact solutions in a consistent, transparent way – for both our Fashion Climate Fund and the industry at large.”
Starting in June 2023, a slate of projects from the Climate Solutions Portfolio will begin to receive grants, estimated to range from $50k – $250k per year, from Aii’s Fashion Climate Fund based on effectiveness, reach, scale, and cost. This represents the first deployed capital from the Fund, which launched in June 2022 and currently marks Target, PVH Corp., Lululemon, H&M GROUP, H&M Foundation, and The Schmidt Family Foundation as lead funders.
The intake application for the Climate Solutions Portfolio was designed by Aii’s new CSP Advisory Council of industry leaders: scientist and consultant Linda Greer; Phil Patterson, Managing Director at Colour Connections Textile Consultancy; Beth Jensen, Director+ Climate Impact at Textile Exchange; Crispin Wong, Senior Director of Product Sustainability and Environment from Lululemon; and Mallory McConnell, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at PVH Corp.
In addition to overseeing the buildout of and maintaining the Climate Solutions Portfolio as a resource for the fashion industry, the CSP Advisory Council will guide the deployment of capital into new solutions from the Fashion Climate Fund. It will tap additional subject matter experts as needed to fully and fairly evaluate applications.
“The Climate Solutions Portfolio, led by our CIO and Advisory Council, is furthering Aii’s mission to identify, fund, scale, and measure the apparel and footwear industry’s proven environmental impact solutions,” says Lewis Perkins, Aii president. “We believe this tool will not only allow Aii to best evaluate solutions, it will also give the entire industry greater transparency into the climate-related programmes at work in the supply chain.”
Aii invites all organisations, technologies, ventures, and solutions geared at advancing decarbonisation solutions to apply for funding and to join the comprehensive registry that will be the Climate Solutions Portfolio.
