{"id":9238,"date":"2016-11-03T20:37:36","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T00:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/nike-combats-global-warming-just-do-it-for-the-planet\/"},"modified":"2016-11-03T20:37:36","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T00:37:36","slug":"nike-combats-global-warming-just-do-it-for-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/nike-combats-global-warming-just-do-it-for-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"NIKE combats Global Warming: \u201cJust Do It\u201d for the Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2015, NIKE products were produced in 700 factories, across 42 countries, by over 1 Million factory workers [1]<\/strong>. To say that they have a global impact \u2013 whether positive or negative, on natural resources \u2013 is an understatement.<\/p>\n

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To put their impact into perspective, in 2013, 10 billion kilograms of cotton was used by the global apparel industry; this resulted in 107.5 million tons of CO2-eq \u2013 or the impact equivalent of 24 million miles driven by a passenger car (a few other conversions are below) [2]<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\"tomchallenge_climate\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Equivalent impacts to the cradle-to-gate impact of one cotton t-shirt.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Equivalent<\/a><\/p>\n

Equivalent greenhouse gas impacts of cotton’s use in the global apparel industry<\/em><\/p>\n

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Keep in mind that this only refers to the cotton material used by manufacturing companies. In addition to the materials used, companies such as NIKE use water in their supply chain, generate manufacturing waste, and have less than optimal renewable energy as part of their owned and operate facilities.<\/p>\n

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This leaves NIKE in a particularly vulnerable position, given the realities of Global Climate change. For example, in 2008, weather-related irregularities, like floods shut down four NIKE factories in Thailand.\u00a0Furthermore, the rise of droughts in regions that produce cotton, means less cotton is produced, the price of cotton increases, and more market volatility is introduced, which all negatively the company\u2019s bottom line. This water issue is of paramount importance; the World Economic Forum has flagged water quantity and quality as the biggest threat facing the planet over the next decade [3].<\/strong><\/p>\n

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NIKE has not stood idle versus these climate change challenges; they\u2019ve adopted new approaches to (1) minimize the impact of changing climate conditions and (2) reduce their environmental footprint.\u00a0For example, Nike is using more synthetic material that is less dependent on weather conditions. NIKE is also \u201cusing lower-impact, high-volume materials \u2013 such as recycled polyester and certified Better Cotton (cotton grown according to the Better Cotton Initiative Standard System) \u2013 that drive energy efficiency and water efficiency\u201d [6]<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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A summary of NIKE\u2019s 2020 Environmental Impact goals [3]<\/strong><\/p>\n