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GGGI Partners with H&M in Cambodia to Promote Sustainable Garment Manufacturing

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, November 21, 2019 – The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Cambodia Team signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Cambodia Textile Sector Energy Efficiency Project Development” with apparel retail giant, PULS Trading Far East Limited (H&M), to promote energy efficient production processes among H&M’s Cambodian suppliers. The agreement was signed by GGGI Cambodia’s representative, Mrs. Karolien Casaer-Diez, and H&M’s Sustainability Manager of Cambodia and Vietnam, Ms. Remheden Deeba.

The MoU signing is based on the two parties’ common goals. GGGI aims to increase its leverage to see its energy efficiency (EE) recommendations adopted by manufacturers and have the opportunity to engage decision makers in textile enterprises for the purpose of promoting the use of innovative business models to improve access to finance for EE projects. Likewise, H&M’s goal is to achieve a climate neutral chain by 2030, thus, this recent cooperation with GGGI allows factories in its supply chain to have access to technical assistance for developing and packaging EE project in their value chain.

The cooperation will focus on biomass steam boiler retrofit investments. This win-win cooperation agreement will allow GGGI and H&M to strengthen the performance and sustainability impact of resource efficiency investments in the Cambodian garment sector. Currently, H&M has a supplier network of 50 factories in the country. Given the rising consumer demand for responsibly sourced products, improving sustainability outcomes in the garment value chain is critical to buyers like H&M and to the competitiveness of the Cambodian garment sector. This partnership with H&M will allow GGGI to continue to explore innovative ways to leverage the demand for responsibly sourced consumer products in value chains to increase access to energy efficiency finance.

GGGI’s economic modelling asserts that greening the industrial sector in Cambodia can foster economic growth, productivity, and competitiveness while yielding important social and environmental benefits. GGGI estimates the introduction of green technology can lead to an increase in real GDP of 46% for the garment sector. Introducing more resource efficient processes in garment production holds major employment creation opportunities and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector up to 17%.

Earlier this year, GGGI already entered into a partnership with H&M in Ethiopia, on a project building a “climate positive” cotton supply chain by 2023. To make a leap towards a circular and renewable fashion industry, H&M has shifted its cotton supply from conventional cotton to either recycled or organic cotton or cotton sourced through organizations such as Better Cotton Initiative (BCI).

About the Global Green Growth Institute:

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. It has operations in over 30 developing countries, including Saint Lucia in the Caribbean and Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati, and Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.