DHAKA: IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has partnered with Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co), a leading jeans-wear manufacturer, to develop a global program aimed at achieving environmental sustainability.
The program will build on the extensive experience of IFC’s Bangladesh Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) program, focusing on providing advice on implementing cleaner production practices in over 165 textile factories in Bangladesh.
This is the first time that the IFC PaCT program will be implemented outside Bangladesh, said a press release on Thursday (September 1).
Initially, a pilot is planned in six facilities in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
“We are pleased to be the first IFC partner to pilot its PaCT program in additional countries. Our goal is to scale the practices globally to achieve greater reductions in water, energy, and chemical use across our supply chain,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of sustainability, LS&Co.
The global textile sector faces critical environmental challenges associated with water, energy, and chemical use that leave a large footprint on the world’s environment.
The implementation of cleaner production measures can reduce the use of natural resources, mitigate threats to humans and the environment, and promote greater overall efficiency through improved production practices.
Simple and low-cost measures could reduce water use by up to 20 percent in factories and lead to savings in future infrastructure and operational expenditure.
Mohan Seneviratne, IFC Program Manager for PaCT, said, “The global textiles sector makes strong contributions to the economies of several countries, creates jobs, especially for women, and has pioneered implementing climate-friendly environmentally-sustainable practices”.
“In Bangladesh, IFC provides both investment and advisory support and works with other stakeholders, to help the garments sector become globally competitive and safe for its employees. We are delighted that IFC’s PaCT program is partnering with Levi Strauss & Co, to develop this global environmental-sustainability program.”
PaCT aims to help LS&Co. reach this goal through cleaner production assessments and PaCT Advantage, a web-based diagnostic process, to develop a roadmap for continuous improvement by suppliers.
The results of the PaCT Advantage diagnostics can then be benchmarked across sites and countries.
IFC promotes sustainable growth and private-sector development in Bangladesh by investing in critical infrastructure; boosting financial inclusion; enhancing textiles competitiveness, and supporting reforms to make doing business easier for the private sector. IFC committed $635million in Bangladesh, in own and mobilized funds across 13 projects, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016.
IFC’s committed portfolio in Bangladesh as of that date is about $1 billion in 47 projects.
About Levi Strauss & Co
Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeans-wear. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of approximately 2,800 retail stores and shop-in-shops. Levi Strauss & Co.'s reported fiscal 2015 net revenues were $4.5 billion. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com.
About Bangladesh PaCT
Bangladesh PaCT is playing a leading role in driving the long-term competitiveness and environmental sustainability of the textile wet-processing sector, by addressing high water, energy, and chemical use through the adoption of best practices in the textile sector. For more: http://www.textilepact.net/about-us/what-is-pact.html
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most.
In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org
BDST: 1210 HRS, SEP 01, 2016
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