Deepening sustainability in the apparel and footwear industry and expanding into adjacent sectors

The sustainability space is continuing to evolve, with the need for primary social and environmental impact data growing as consumers and investors expect more transparency and businesses prepare for new sustainability regulations. In line with this progression, today our partners at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition relaunched their global non-profit alliance with a reinvigorated focus and a new look and name: Cascale. 

With this relaunch, Cascale, whose 300+ members develop the Higg Index, available on Worldly, is expanding. The organization will now serve consumer goods industries in the home furnishings, sporting and outdoor goods, and bags and luggage sectors, while maintaining their commitment in driving social and environmental impact improvement initiatives at global scale for the apparel and footwear industry. Over time, members in these new industries will be able to leverage the benefits seen by their current membership base, using the Higg Index in the new sectors to improve sustainability practices at scale.

“Cascale’s rebrand comes at a pivotal time as regulatory changes mandate companies to report on their global supply chains,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Worldly. “Together with Cascale, we’re committed to serving the apparel and footwear industry, while we expand the Higg Index tools and new solutions to adjacent sectors and deliver the primary data brands and retailers need to meet regulations and improve their social and environmental impacts.”

Throughout the year, Cascale members meet regularly to discuss and provide feedback on the five tools within the Higg Index suite. They take into account emerging global regulations, the need to understand a businesses’ carbon emissions, and help businesses develop a clearer picture of value chain performance. As they build consensus on key changes, the index is updated to reflect the collective needs of the industry. Cascale is the leader of industry collaboration within any sector. 

Continued collaboration to enable more responsible business practices

As the exclusive platform for the Higg Index suite of tools, which brands, retailers, and manufacturers use to understand and improve their social and environmental impact, we are thrilled to see Cascale embrace its new vision of a more equitable and restorative consumer goods industry. We’ll be working closely with Cascale to deliver the data required to drive social and environmental impact to these new sectors – building on the impact that we’ve been able to have together on apparel and footwear. 

How will we work with Cascale?

At Worldly, we work closely with the Cascale team to interpret and reflect the ongoing updates made to the Higg Index, building the tools on a technology platform brands, retailers, and manufacturers can use at scale. Our team also builds additional resources such as data dictionaries and e-learning courses and materials to support Higg Index users as they navigate the tools. 

Most recently, we launched the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) 4.0 in collaboration with Cascale. The new assessment is more comprehensive and custom – offering manufactures a more tailored reporting experience, while also gathering data aligned to key frameworks such as the GHG Protocol. The Higg FEM is designed to be used used in conjunction with the rest of the suite of tools, including the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM), Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI), Higg Product Module, and Higg Brand & Retail Module (Higg BRM). Coupled with the solutions Worldly has developed, the Higg Index provides a thorough view of a brand’s social and environmental impacts across the value chain. We’re excited to continue working together, expanding into new markets and offering added capabilities that help companies gather the clearest view of their impact.