Jeffrey joined Levi Strauss & Co. in 2020 to lead our sustainability journey, bringing more than 20 years of experience leading innovation and sustainability strategies across multiple industries from retail food to apparel.
This is our first holistic Sustainability Report, with a complete set of disclosures designed to meet stakeholder needs. It has been informed by prevailing reporting and disclosure standards and shares our material ESG issues, impacts and opportunities. It furthers our commitment to transparency. It captures our programs and priorities and articulates our overarching approach going forward.
This report makes clear what we’ve achieved thus far and where we’re headed. We plan to share new targets on our key priority areas later this year.
I hope readers will see that our commitment to sustainability is comprehensive and enduring. We have a long history of investing in the future of our business and the communities where we operate.
I also hope it’s clear that we’re not just leaning on that history. While we’re proud of the work we’ve done, we know this is a journey and as such, we and our industry still have a long way to go to deliver on the promises and ambitions of this work. That applies to our climate programs, our efforts on water, our Worker Well-being programs, our diversity work and more. On no front are we satisfied. There are improvements to be made just about everywhere. And it’s not really a choice. It’s what we have to do to create a resilient business that can last for another 168 years.
An area of strong emphasis for us is circularity. It’s something many of us in the industry are working on, both in our own operations and in collaboration with each other, but there are real challenges to achieve circularity at scale.
The report outlines how we are laying the foundations for circularity, taking the initial steps that have to happen. To me, it shows up in the amazing work our design innovation team has done on our WellThread® line; in partnerships we’ve established with Fashion for Good and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation; in our focus on making garments that are made to be made again, with safe and renewable inputs; and in the Buy Better, Wear Longer campaign we launched earlier this year.
These are the building blocks, and we are going to keep pushing on these and the system at large. In the meantime, we’re working hard to extend the life of our products. We’re talking to consumers about being intentional with purchasing decisions, building on our Tailor Shops and SecondHand offerings, and continuing to make great products that are built to last.
We will publish these reports annually to be transparent, to share our progress and engage our stakeholders, and to push the boundaries of what is possible from our brands.