Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL: TSX and NYSE) is pleased to unveil the
Company’s Next Generation ESG strategy and future goals. Embedded
in the Company’s new approach is a commitment to making meaningful
advancements by 2030 in the following areas:
- Climate, energy, and water,
- Circularity,
- Human capital management,
- Long-term value creation, and
- Transparency and disclosure.
"From our beginning, we have been re-imagining
and building the future of responsible apparel manufacturing. This
has made Gildan the Company it is today; recognized for the apparel
we make and how we make it," said Glenn Chamandy, President and CEO
of Gildan. "ESG has always been integrated into our business
strategy and reflected in our market offering. This next generation
strategy will push us to deliver even stronger ESG performance and
continue to reinforce Gildan as a leading ethical, sustainable, and
efficient apparel company."
Gildan’s new strategy seeks to tackle global
environmental and social priorities aimed at improving the lives of
people who make Gildan garments, further protecting the
environment, empowering neighbouring communities, and increasing
the sustainability of products delivered to customers
worldwide.
“Today, we are incredibly proud to unveil our
new strategy and goals that were strategically developed to target
key material issues that are currently faced by Gildan and, more
broadly, the world,” said Peter Iliopoulos, Senior Vice-President
of Taxation, Sustainability, and Governmental Affairs at Gildan.
“As a global, leading vertically integrated apparel manufacturer,
Gildan has an opportunity to further its positive contributions in
areas in which we can have the most meaningful impact, and from
there have developed actionable key targets, some of which are
highlighted below:”
Climate, Energy, and Water
Gildan commits to continuing its fight against
climate change by paving the way towards a low carbon future, with
a goal of reducing its scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 30% by 20301,
aligned with the SBTi and the level of decarbonization required to
meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. To that effect, Gildan is
pleased to share that the Company has signed the SBTi commitment
letter, joining companies worldwide in following a science-based
approach in reducing carbon emissions. Gildan also commits to
addressing water related risks linked to climate change. As such,
Gildan plans to further invest in water efficiency and implement
additional water reducing, reusing, and recycling options in its
operations with the goal to attain a 20% reduction in water
withdrawal from nature by 20301.
Circularity
Gildan commits to fostering a circular economy
to reduce its environmental impact. In doing so, Gildan intends to
source more sustainable and transparent raw materials and enhance
sustainable waste management initiatives. This includes sourcing
100% sustainable cotton by 2025 and 30% recycled polyester or
alternative fibers and/or yarns by 2027. The Company also plans to
achieve zero manufacturing waste by 2027 and to use 75% recycled or
sustainable packaging and trim materials by 2027.
Human Capital Management
Importantly, Gildan commits to continue ensuring human rights
are respected in its supply chain. Further, Gildan will push health
and safety performance to new standards by working to improve
employee safety and reducing workplace risks across its operations.
To achieve this, Gildan plans to attain the ISO 45001 certification
at all its Company-owned and operated facilities by 2028.
On diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Company is setting a
first-time goal to improve gender parity. Gildan has already
attained gender parity globally in manager level and less senior
positions, and by 2027 plans to achieve gender parity for roles at
the director level and above.
Long-Term Value Creation
Gildan commits to positively impacting economic
development in regions where the Company operates with meaningful
community engagement. Gildan intends to incrementally increase
allocation of capital towards purposeful and value-driven projects
in regions where the Company operates and to gradually reach a
contribution of 1% of its pre-tax earnings by 2026. In parallel,
the Company will also engage one of its most important
stakeholders, its people, and continue to facilitate and encourage
employee volunteerism at all levels to further deepen local
impact.
Transparency and Disclosure
A key part of Gildan’s accountability in
reaching these targets will be to transparently share the journey
with stakeholders. To that effect, Gildan also commits to further
enhancing and strengthening its ESG disclosure across its areas of
focus, effectively allowing stakeholders to make more informed
ESG-focused decisions and maintaining a high degree of trust and
understanding of Gildan.
In 2022, Gildan is planning to further enhance
alignment to the TCFD framework through a subsequent disclosure in
a stand-alone report, which will detail Gildan’s climate-related
governance, strategy, risk management and metrics, and targets.
“We are confident that this new strategy will
propel our efforts to greater heights and allow us to become a
stronger and more resilient Company,” said Claudia Sandoval,
Vice-President of Corporate Citizenship at Gildan. “While Gildan
embarked on its ESG journey over two decades ago, we know that the
path to sustainability is ongoing, which is why we will continue
our journey forward to further strengthen our programs. We also
know that it is not enough to set targets. Therefore, we are
developing clear and credible roadmaps to address the challenges
and opportunities we face to continue to make meaningful positive
impacts, and we won’t be doing it alone. Our success depends on the
collaboration of all key stakeholders, and we are excited to foster
and leverage a global, collaborative approach to bring our goals to
life.”
Learn more about Gildan’s Next Generation
strategy and 2030 targets here.
Forward looking statement:
Certain statements included in this press
release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
Canadian securities legislation and regulations and are subject to
important risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. These
forward-looking statements include, amongst others, statements
related to the Company’s Next Generation ESG strategy and ESG
targets, commitments and goals and statements related to the
Company’s future allocation of capital. Forward-looking
statements generally can be identified by the use of conditional or
forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”,
“intend”, “estimate”, “project”, “assume”, “anticipate”, “plan”,
“foresee”, “believe”, or “continue”, or the negatives of these
terms or variations of them or similar terminology. The purpose of
the forward-looking information or statements included in this
press release is to provide the reader with a description of the
Company’s Next Generation ESG strategy and ESG targets, commitments
and goals. This information may not be appropriate for other
purposes. By their nature, such statements are subject to
significant risks, assumptions, and uncertainties, which could
cause Gildan’s actual results and experience to be materially
different than the anticipated results. We refer you to the
Company’s filings with the Canadian securities’ regulatory
authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as
well as the risks described under the “Financial risk management”,
“Critical accounting estimates and judgments”, and “Risks and
uncertainties” sections of our Annual Report’s most recent
Management’s Discussion and Analysis for a discussion of such risks
and assumptions. Our ability to achieve our ESG targets,
commitments and goals is further subject to, among others, our
ability to access and implement all technologies, processes and
methods necessary to achieve our targets, commitments and goals,
our ability to leverage our supply chain and vertically integrated
business model and our ability to source sustainable raw materials,
as well as the development and performance of innovative
technologies and the future use and deployment of such technologies
and associated expected future results, and environmental policy,
legislation and regulation. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release describe
our expectations at the date of this press release and,
accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company
does not undertake or accept any obligation to update publicly or
to revise any of the forward-looking statements included in this
press release, whether as a result of new information, future
events, or otherwise unless required by applicable legislation or
regulation. The forward-looking statements contained in this press
release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
About Gildan
Gildan is a leading manufacturer of everyday
basic apparel which markets its products in North America, Europe,
Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, under a diversified portfolio of
Company-owned brands, including Gildan®, American Apparel®, Comfort
Colors®, Gildan® Hammer™, Prim + Preux®, GOLDTOE®, Anvil® by
Gildan®, Alstyle®, Secret®, Silks®, Secret Silky®, Therapy Plus®,
Peds® and MediPeds®, and under the Under Armour® brand through a
sock licensing agreement providing exclusive distribution rights in
the United States and Canada. Our product offering includes
activewear, underwear, socks, hosiery, and legwear products sold to
a broad range of customers, including wholesale distributors,
screenprinters or embellishers, as well as to retailers that sell
to consumers through their physical stores and/or e-commerce
platforms, and to global lifestyle brand companies.
Gildan owns and operates vertically-integrated, large-scale
manufacturing facilities which are primarily located in Central
America, the Caribbean, North America, and Bangladesh. With
approximately 47,000 employees worldwide, Gildan operates with a
strong commitment to industry-leading labour, environmental and
governance practices throughout its supply chain in accordance with
its comprehensive ESG program embedded in the Company's long-term
business strategy. More information about the Company and its ESG
practices and initiatives can be found at www.gildancorp.com and
www.genuineresponsibility.com, respectively.
Investor inquiries: |
Media inquiries: |
Sophie Argiriou |
Genevieve Gosselin |
Vice President, Investor Communications |
Director, Global Communications and Corporate Marketing |
(514) 343-8815 |
(514) 343-8814 |
sargiriou@gildan.com |
ggosselin@gildan.com |
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