Gildan Activewear

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Gildan Activewear performed a materiality assessment in 2021 to identify and prioritise its most relevant sustainability impacts and disclosed the outcome of this process in relation to its sustainability strategy. In addition, as evidence of its highest governance body having expertise regarding the company’s most material nature-related topics, the company’s global chief procurement officer has extensive supply chain experience and has worked on multiple projects related to sustainable procurement in relevant companies.

Stakeholder engagement
Gildan Activewear discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities and the frequency and channels used to engage with various stakeholder groups.

Key areas and species
Gildan Activewear has a management plan for locations within its operations adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. It discloses the percentage of land, fresh water and sea use in such locations. Furthermore, it discloses species populations existing in or adjacent to its locations and the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Gildan Activewear provides details of its ecosystem restoration projects. It discloses ecosystem restoration efforts beyond areas affected by its own operations or suppliers, such as compensation or offset mechanisms.

Water
Gildan Activewear has a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal in its own operations and reports progress against the target. Furthermore, it engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. Gildan Activewear is committed to respecting the right to water and requires access to water and sanitation, including refraining from negatively affecting access to safe water, to be included in contractual arrangements with its business relationships. It also works closely with its business relationships to improve its practices regarding access to water and sanitation.

Solid and air pollution
Gildan Activewear reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations. For instance, by 2027, it aims to achieve zero manufacturing waste and to use 75% recycled or sustainable packaging and trim materials.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Gildan Activewear is committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While Gildan Activewear has several environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives related to GHG emissions, several other material issues related to its industry, such as non-GHG air pollution, soil and water pollution, and terrestrial ecosystem conversion, have not yet been covered. Gildan Activewear is also encouraged to make further efforts to link performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives covering nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

Lobbying
Gildan Activewear is not currently reporting on its lobbying and advocacy practices on nature-related issues.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Gildan Activewear has not holistically assessed its nature-related impacts and dependencies. It has an opportunity to start such an assessment, including its business relationships.

Key areas and species
While Gildan Activewear discloses the locations in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its operations, it has yet to expand the disclosure to include its suppliers.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
As a first step, Gildan Activewear should commit to zero conversion across its own operations and business relationships. Following this commitment, it should work towards defining time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains and disclose some evidence of its progress in that direction. Regarding ecosystem restoration, Gildan Activewear discloses details of restoration projects undertaken in areas where it operates. However, it has yet to commit explicitly to restoring all negative impacts resulting from its own operations and those of its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
Gildan Activewear is encouraged to disclose its inputs (including its material footprint) according to an international standard. As part of its work, Gildan Activewear can make progress towards reporting quantitative metrics on its group-wide circularity performance. Gildan Activewear should also work towards defining targets to improve soil health in its production and sourcing practices.

Water
While Gildan Activewear reports how much water is withdrawn from water-stressed areas, and repots how much water is withdrawn for its operations in water-stressed areas, the company increased water withdrawal in 2021 compared to 2020. Regarding water pollution, Gildan Activewear should work towards disclosing its processes for managing and monitoring water quality and decreasing water pollution in the coming years. Lastly, while Gildan Activewear is committed to respecting the rights to water and sanitation, its next step should be to disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to these rights.

Solid and air pollution
Gildan Activewear is encouraged to disclose a commitment to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. This should be followed by reporting a reduction in the production of hazardous substances. Gildan Activewear is reducing the production of hazardous and plastic waste. However, progress is still needed to report on the amount of plastic waste directed from or to disposal. Concerning air pollution, Gildan Activewear reports regularly on the emissions of harmful air pollutants. However, it has yet to define time-bound targets to reduce these emissions across its own operations and those of its suppliers.

GHG emissions
While Gildan Activewear has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions and reports progress against it, it must align its target with a 1.5-degree trajectory. Besides, the group’s scope 1 and 2 emissions increased in 2021 compared to 2020. On the other hand, Gildan Activewear discloses segments of its scope 3 emissions and reports quantitative reductions for these segments. However, it does not yet have a time-bound reduction target for its scope 3 emissions, which should be aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Invasive species
While Gildan Activewear reports not having identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of IAS in its operations, it is encouraged to include its business relationships in this identification process.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Gildan Activewear’s human rights policy or other legal documents do not specify the company’s commitment to respect the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, nor does the company track its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
While Gildan Activewear states that it has not received any sanctions under ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, it has not committed yet to respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, nor does it disclose the processes followed for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its operations may impact their rights. Regarding land rights, Gildan Activewear has yet to commit to respecting ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. Following this commitment, it is encouraged to require its business relationships to have a process for identifying legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and negotiating with them to provide adequate compensation.

While Gildan Activewear states that it has a due diligence process in place, it can provide more details of this process. On the other hand, the company discloses its salient human rights risks as freedom of association and collective bargaining, health and safety, women’s rights, harassment and/or abuse, and working hours. However, saliency has been approached using a materiality assessment, and no details of the factors used as a proxy for saliency are provided. Regarding human rights risk assessment, the company discloses that it conducts routine assessments and remediates in locations with the highest risk. However, no evidence was found that it has a global system to act on all its salient human rights issues. Gildan Activewear provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. However, it has an opportunity to disclose the stakeholders it engages with on human rights risks.

Gildan Activewear has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. It also has a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. Regarding living wages, Gildan Activewear states that it believes that all of its workers have a right to a living wage for a regular work week that covers basic needs and provides some level of discretionary income. However, it is unclear if the compensation is sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for a worker and his or her family and/or dependents. Furthermore, the company states that it aims to support and improve its employees’ living conditions continuously. However, there is no evidence that the company discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. Gildan Activewear does describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates and expects its suppliers to pay wages that are sufficient for workers and their families to fulfil their basic needs. However, it has an opportunity to disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. In relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining, Gildan Activewear discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements, and it expects its business partners to recognise and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Additionally, it states that it monitors performance regularly and engages in a constructive and open dialogue process with union representatives through grievance mechanisms. However, it does not describe how it works to support the practices of its business relationships in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Gildan Activewear has a global tax strategy and is taking steps to identify and address bribery and corruption. The company also includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. Regarding lobbying and political engagement, Gildan Activewear provides details of its approach to lobbying and political engagement, and states that it does not make any political contributions.