{"id":26882,"date":"2017-11-15T22:58:48","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T03:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/nike-leading-the-path-to-fighting-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2017-11-15T22:59:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T03:59:18","slug":"nike-leading-the-path-to-fighting-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/nike-leading-the-path-to-fighting-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Nike: Leading the Path to Fighting Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s take a look at the supply chain of a typical garment and footwear brand. 1) It starts with the farmers who harvest raw materials like cotton. 2) These farmers then then sell raw materials to factories that produce yarn or cloth, which in turn sell them to factories that dye, cut, and fit the cloth to the brands specifications. 3) Brands warehouse, ship, and retail these garments [1, 2].<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s think about how the environment interfaces with each of these steps and why Nike should care. 1) At higher temperatures, growing cotton becomes unsustainable as was seen in Texas in 2011 when 55% of cotton fields were abandoned [3]. No cotton, no cotton apparel. 2) Factories consume an immense amount of resources to produce apparel, especially water; a single mill can use 200 tonnes of water for each fabric it dyes [4]. This in turn results in massive amounts of wastewater discharge which both makes it expensive to treat and expensive to operate. 3) We observe that >60% of apparel factories are located in East and South Asia whereas >60% of apparel consumption is situated in Europe and North America [4]. Besides the immense warehousing and shipping costs associated with this setup, in low lying manufacturing areas, climate change-associated flooding can result in factory shut downs as was seen in four Nike factories in Thailand in 2008 [5].<\/p>\n

Climate change is an issue that directly affects Nike\u2019s commercial activities. <\/b><\/p>\n

Consequently, Nike’s management has been taking steps to fight climate change.<\/p>\n

To start off, they’ve set bold goals like \u201cZero waste from contract footwear manufacturing going to landfill or incineration without energy recovery by FY20\u201d and \u201c100% renewable energy in owned or operated facilities by the end of FY25\u201d all while almost doubling sales [6]. This immediately aligns everyone in the organization to a common vision, one that is built on innovative growth while deeply embedding sustainability.<\/p>\n

Nike management has also undertaken several initiatives to combat climate change both in the short term and long term.<\/p>\n