Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)

Stakeholder engagement

Hennes & Mauritz discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities, and the stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups.

Water

Hennes & Mauritz sets targets on reducing both water usage and water pollution, reporting progress against the target. The company has a target to reduce 25% of water usage by 2022 compared to the 2017 baseline year, and a target to achieve 100% zero discharge of hazardous chemicals wastewater in its effluent treatment plant by 2022. Hennes & Mauritz also works with WWF to engage with its suppliers on water conditions such as water scarcity and quality. Besides, the company is committed to respecting community rights including access to clean water.

Safe, healthy, clean environment

Hennes & Mauritz is committed to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The company identifies the social security of the community, including access to healthcare, insurance and income security, as one of the salient human rights issues. 

Sustainability strategy and accountability 

Hennes & Mauritz discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. While the company discloses some sustainability targets such as GHG emissions and water use and consistently reports against them, no evidence that the company has group wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain based on the SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool, including non-GHG air pollutants, biological alterations/interferences and soil pollutants.  

While Hennes & Mauritz discloses that the board of directors receives sustainability overview twice a year, it is unclear whether the board has the oversight responsibility for its sustainability strategy. Although the company discloses information on the remuneration of the CEO and management team with sustainability targets, it is unclear whether the target cover nature (including biodiversity) and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics. 

Lobbying

Hennes & Mauritz discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. However, the company does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company also does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies. 

Impact and dependencies assessment 

While Hennes & Mauritz discloses its goal to conduct a biodiversity footprint assessment, no evidence that the company has not holistically assessed its impacts or how it depends on nature, including biodiversity. It has an opportunity to start such an assessment across its value chains, focused on quantification of its impacts or dependencies. 

Key areas and species 

Hennes & Mauritz does not disclose key species or areas important for biodiversity affected by its operations or suppliers. It has an opportunity to increase its transparency. 

Ecosystem conversion and restoration 

Hennes & Mauritz does not disclose a commitment to ensure zero conversion. While Hennes & Mauritz has set several objectives to source its raw materials in a sustainable and certified manner, it has an opportunity to disclose the certifications or methods used to ensure the phase-out of ecosystem conversion.  

Hennes & Mauritz is committed to the goal of minimising ecosystem conversion of natural land in its value chain and shows qualitative evidence working towards it in areas important for biodiversity. Meanwhile, the company does not disclose a commitment to restore ecosystems. The company discloses details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers. 

Resource exploitation and circularity 

Hennes & Mauritz does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint. The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. Besides, while Hennes & Mauritz discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices, the company does not disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices. 

Water 

Hennes & Mauritz demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. However, the company does not report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. 

Hennes & Mauritz reports a decrease in water pollution. While the company discloses its compliance to international guidelines, it is unclear what specific process or external certification involves in managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company regularly reports on water pollution and discloses the performance of conventional parameters such as BOD, COD and TSS. The company does not disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identifying specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations. 

Solid and air pollution 

Hennes & Mauritz is commited to eliminating the use of all hazardous chemicals by 2020. While the company adopts screened chemistry and encourages suppliers to meet international guidelines, no evidence that the company discloses practices to reduce the production of hazardous substances.  

Besides, while Hennes & Mauritz reduces its plastic use in packaging by 5% in 2021 compared to the previous year and by 27.8% compared to the baseline year in 2018, no evidence that the company reports on the most relevant part of its value chain. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and the proportions directed from or to disposal. The company does not report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. The company does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across most material parts of its value chain. 

GHG emissions 

Hennes & Mauritz is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions compared to the previous year. However, the scope 3 emissions increased compared to the previous year. The company sets a target to reduce scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 56% by 2030 compared to its baseline year 2019. No evidence the company has a year-over-year reduction of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions since the baseline year. No evidence that the company’s scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory was found. 

Invasive species 

Hennes & Mauritz has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations. 

Safe, healthy, clean environment 

No evidence that Hennes & Mauritz tracks its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities was found. The company is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders. 

Indigenous peoples’ and land rights 

Hennes & Mauritz does not disclose a commitment to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities. 

Hennes & Mauritz describes the process for identifying and assessing its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations as well as its business relationships. While the company discloses its salient human rights risks with case studies and suggests it has a global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate its salient human rights risks, it has an opportunity to describe this system. The company provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. While the company provides general examples of engagement with stakeholders, it has an opportunity to clarify if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. 

Hennes & Mauritz has a publicly available policy statement which shows that it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers and that it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. While the company discloses that it provides its employees minimum wage and benefits, it has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. The company describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. No evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates was found.  

No evidence that Hennes & Mauritz discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements was found. While the company states that it encourages its suppliers to respect employees’ right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, it has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to those. 

Hennes & Mauritz discloses a global tax strategy. The company also takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption, covering anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships.  However, no evidence that Hennes & Mauritz has a publicly available policy statement or policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach was found. No evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions was found.