Levi Strauss & Co.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Levi Strauss & Co is starting to link non-financial performance to remuneration for some executive positions in the group. For instance, the COO receives bonus compensation for meeting targets related to greenhouse gas reduction and the transition to renewable energy. While this is currently sufficient to score on this element, it is expected that in the future the company will make this compensation system more widespread among the company’s executive positions.

Stakeholder engagement
Levi Strauss & Co discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Levi Strauss & Co discloses it has concluded an initial roadmap for its biodiversity assessments, and is expecting to disclose the results of an initial assessment in 2022, with a 2025 target year to conclude the assessments, which includes upstream and downstream impacts. The company assesses its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. The company assesses its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in the downstream activities of its value chain.

Water
Levi Strauss & Co engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company reports how it depends on water withdrawal from water-stressed areas in its supply chain, and it has set a target with its suppliers to reduce withdrawal. The company 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. The company works with its business relationships to improve their practices regarding access to water and sanitation.

Solid and air pollution
Levi Strauss & Co reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations like eliminating plastic collar bands and plastic hangers.

GHG emissions
Levi Strauss & Co is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions. The company reports progress against its scope 1 and 2 emissions target. The company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory. The company is reducing its scope 3 emissions. The company has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions. The company reports progress against its scope 3 emissions target. The company’s scope 3 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

No leading practices were identified for Levi Strauss & Co in the social inclusion and community impact area.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Levi Strauss & Co 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, 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 could be found in the public domain. The company reports consistently against all its targets. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
Levi Strauss & Co does not disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Lobbying
Levi Strauss & Co releases a list of key memberships and partnerships. It should however make a separate list of its trade associations across all georgraphies. The company does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Levi Strauss & Co does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations. The company does not disclose any assessment of dependencies on nature of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
Levi Strauss & Co 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
Levi Strauss & Co does not disclose a commitment to ensure zero conversion. The company does not disclose some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion. While the company’s commitment to minimizing ecosystem conversion is not explicit, the company is taking actions to reduce the use of wood from, for example, endangered or ancient forest ecosystems. While the company does not commit to the restoration of habitats impacted by its operations or that of its supply chain, it has made clear its objective to restore and regenerate ecosystems where it has an unavoidable impact. By the next research cycle, it is expected that the company will have established its clear commitment to restoring the habitats it impacts in a policy. The company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
No evidence was found regarding Levi Strauss & Co’s efforts to work towards a circular economy or which organisms it exploits. The company has an opportunity to develop a strategy and publicly report on specific, time-bound targets. The company does not disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
While Levi Strauss & Co discloses reductions in water use in areas of high water stress, no evidence could be found in the public domain that the company has reduced water withdrawals in its own operations compared to 2020. The company does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations. The company does not report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company reports a decrease in water pollution. The company does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company does not regularly report on water pollution. The company does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water. The company does not disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Solid and air pollution
No evidence that Levi Strauss & Co reduces the production of hazardous substances was found. The company does not disclose a commitment to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. No evidence that the company is reducing the production of hazardous waste was found. No evidence that the company reduces plastic use and waste in its own operations was found. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and 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 the most material parts of its value chain.

Invasive species
Levi Strauss & Co has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Levi Strauss & Co does not disclose a commitment to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment or to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
Levi Strauss & Co does not disclose a commitment to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities.

Levi Strauss & Co has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially through its business relationships. The company has an opportunity to describe a process for assessing the human rights risks it has identified and to disclose what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. A description of this process would include how relevant factors are considered, such as geographical, economic and social factors. No evidence was found that the company has a global system to act on its salient human rights issues. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. No evidence that the company provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities was found.

Levi Strauss & Co has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. 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 was found. No evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates was found. While the company states that it expects its suppliers to pay wages that are sufficient for workers and their families to fulfil their basic needs, it has an opportunity to disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. While the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operation’s workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements, it states that monitoring only covers a percentage of the group. 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.

Levi Strauss & Co has a publicly available tax strategy, which is approved by the highest governance body. However, the scope of the tax strategy is only applicable for UK companies and their operations rather than a global scope. The company states that it may be required to investigate or to have outside counsel investigate the relevant facts and circumstances regarding violation of the law of corruption and bribery. However, it does not provide the process to identify its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. The company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. The company outlines its approach to lobbying and political engagement but does not formalise this approach in a public policy document. The company states that it does not make political contributions but does not formalise this commitment in a public policy document.