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Natural Capital Evaluation

FACTS AS THE BASIS FOR OUR SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
HUGO BOSS is aware of its responsibility to people and the environment. The natural capital evaluation identifies the steps in the value chain where the greatest environmental impacts like CO2 emissions arise – and helps to develop strategies aimed at reducing them.





What is a natural capital evaluation?

Along the entire value chain at HUGO BOSS, natural resources are used, along with chemical and energy inputs – from the extraction of raw materials and production to shipment of finished products. This has an impact on our climate, the quality of ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as human health, among other factors.

To live up to our responsibility, it is important to know about these impacts in detail. Fact-based knowledge is needed to set strategic priorities, make well-founded decisions, and develop sensible, more sustainable innovations.

That’s why HUGO BOSS has conducted life cycle assessments of the whole supply chains from raw materials to the final product since 2009, to examine the environmental impacts of the individual product categories. Findings by partners, scientific studies and representatives like Marzia Traverso are also included to support and validate the study. For more information, please check the three whitepapers at the end of this page. But environmental impacts – such as water consumption, land requirements, and CO2 emissions, for example – are not directly comparable, because they are measured in different units such as kilograms and litres. A further intermediate step is needed to render the different environmental impacts comparable. This is why HUGO BOSS began using the Natural Capital Protocol by the Capitals Coalition in 2016. It renders the results comparable by translating them into standardized monetary values.

Results of the natural capital evaluation

Impacts along the value chain

The greatest weight among the environmental impacts of the value chain arises during the production steps: raw materials extraction and wet and dry processes. That’s why HUGO BOSS has set targets in these areas and become involved in relevant initiatives, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Leather Working Group (LWG).

For other steps in the value chain that are not directly related to products (logistics, administration, and store operation), we also work on dedicated sustainability targets. For more information, see the PLANET section.

Impact by damage category

The different work steps along the value chain can be categorized by their corresponding ecological effects. Some of the work steps have a greater impact on climate change, for example, while others affect human health. This creates hot spots where more precise analysis and suitable measures are worked on.

The biggest hot spots identified in the raw materials stage are water consumption and the impact on ecosystem quality, while the wet processes have their greatest impact on climate change and human health.

Raw material wet processes dry processes logistics adminis­tration retail packaging
CO2
Climate Change
14%
43%

Climate change (wet process)

In the wet processes, it is primarily the energy required for procedures such as dyeing, finishing, and tanning that can have an impact on climate change.
27%
9%
2%
4%
1%
Health
Human Health
19%
39%

Human health (wet process)

Tanning, dyeing, and finishing require the use of chemicals, some of which have potentially negative impacts on human health.
26%
9%
1%
5%
1%
Plant
Ecosystem quality
54%
21%

Quality of the ecosystem (raw materials)

For conventional cotton cultivation, agricultural chemicals are used, such as pesticides to protect the crop against pests and fertilizers to boost its growth. However, the use of these chemicals can result in water pollution and acidification of the soil and may also pose risks to native species.
15%
5%
1%
3%
1%
Water
water withdrawal
67%
17%

Water consumption (raw materials)

Growing cotton in arid areas may lead to higher water depletion without appropriate irrigation technology. Cotton plays an important role at HUGO BOSS due to its characteristics as a material: it accounts for 56% of all input materials, making it the most-used raw material at HUGO BOSS.
12%
1%
0%
2%
1%

State May 2018: Based on data collected in 2016 (please see 2nd edition of the White Papers) and data updates in 2018

Hotspot

Downloads

Three white papers document research efforts by HUGO BOSS in the area of natural capital evaluation. The detailed method is described in the first version (white paper 2016). All three publications contain results for the individual product groups. In addition, the third white paper, published in 2018, describes the impacts of the HUGO BOSS value chain on climate change in greater detail.

White Paper - Environmental Impact Valuation - 3rd Edition (May 31, 2018)

White Paper - Environmental Impact Valuation - 2nd Edition (June 27, 2017)

White Paper - Environmental Impact Valuation - 1st Edition (October 07, 2016)