Lululemon Athletica

No leading practices were identified for the company in the governance and strategy area.

Water
Lululemon Athletica engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal, setting a target to reduce freshwater use intensity with its priority wet process suppliers by at least 20% by 2025. The company also discloses working with its supplier Sports City to ensure access to water in local communities in Vietnam.

Solid and air pollution
Lululemon Athletica is reducing the production of hazardous substances in its operations. It has set a target to have 100% of priority suppliers implementing its restricted substances list by 2022. It also discloses its practice of using recycled polyester content in its products and reports on the percentage of recycled polyester in its products. The company has a target to reduce its virgin polymer production and reports progress against it.

GHG emissions
Lululemon Athletica has a target to reduce 60% of its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030 compared to the 2018 baseline year. Approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, this target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion and community impact area.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Lululemon Athletica 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. The company also discloses some sustainability targets such as GHG emissions and water use. However, no evidence was found 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. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
Lululemon Athletica discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups. However, it does not disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Lobbying
Lululemon Athletica discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. However, it does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. Nor does it report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Lululemon Athletica 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
Lululemon Athletica 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
Lululemon Athletica does not disclose a commitment to ensure zero conversion, nor does it disclose activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. While the company has set a target to achieve 75% sustainable materials for its products by 2025 and 100% by 2030, it has an opportunity to disclose the certifications or methods used to ensure the phase-out of ecosystem conversion. The company has also set targets that show a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion in the most material parts of its value chain. Moreover, it discloses qualitative efforts to minimise ecosystem conversion in areas important for biodiversity. Nevertheless, the company does not disclose a commitment to restore ecosystems, nor does it disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
Lululemon Athletica does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint, nor does it report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. Additionally, it does not disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
No evidence was found that the company reduces water withdrawal across its own operations. It does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations, nor does it report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. While Lululemon Athletica discloses several management and monitoring practices on water quality, no evidence was found that these practices lead to the reduction of water quality pressures. The company discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality, but it does not regularly report on water pollution and does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. Moreover, Lululemon Athletica does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water, nor does it 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
Lululemon Athletica does not disclose a commitment to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. No evidence was found that the company is reducing the production of hazardous waste or is reducing plastic use and waste in its own operations. It does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal, nor does it report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. Finally, it does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
Lululemon Athletica is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, but no evidence was found that the company has had a year-on-year reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions since the baseline year. While the company discloses its scope 3 emissions, the amount increased compared to the previous year, and there has been no year-on-year reduction compared to the baseline year.

Invasive species
Lululemon Athletica has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Lululemon Athletica does not disclose a commitment to respect 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
While Lululemon Athletica mentions Indigenous Peoples’ rights, it reports no commitment to respect their rights which references the relevant part(s) of ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples or the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Lululemon Athletica does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect 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. No evidence was found that the company requires its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

While Lululemon Athletica provides details of a human rights identification process which is specifically inclined towards its supply chain, it does not describe the process(es) to identify its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. However, it does describe its process(es) for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. It also describes its mitigation process through an example of forced labour and human trafficking risk in purchasing practices. It could further disclose a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate other 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.

Lululemon Athletica has a publicly available policy statement which shows 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. No evidence was found that Lululemon Athletica discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. Nor was evidence found that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. 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. No evidence was found that the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements, although it does describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining

Lululemon Athletica discloses a global tax strategy. It also includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. However, no evidence was found that the company describes the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. The company indicates that any political activities must be approved and conducted in accordance with internal policies and procedures but does not formalise this approach in a public policy document. No evidence was found that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions.