Our 2019 performance Strong performance towards our 2020 aspirational goals

Building on the success of our Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM T-shirts and Gold level Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM jeans, in 2019 we offered even more Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM clothing. We also developed the world's first Platinum level Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM denim fabric during 2019. To date, we have received more than 4 million pieces of Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM items, which underscores the importance of sustainable fashion to our customers.

During the year, we also continued to communicate our sustainability efforts through Wear The Change, which allows customers to identify our more sustainable products via the #WearTheChange label in stores and online. Wear The Change also provides an easily recognised communications message for sustainability initiatives such as unwanted clothing take-back, in-store waste programmes, and other initiatives that engage our employees and our customers.

We also continue strengthening our programmes across the rest of our supply chain to meet our 2020 goals for top-rated suppliers, particularly in relation to safe and fair labour practices and zero discharge of hazardous chemicals. Across all our sustainability focus areas, we remain committed to our goals and to enhancing our efforts in leading industry- wide change.

Sustainable Products

• 94% of the cotton we source is certified organic cotton or sourced as Better Cotton, up from 71% in 2018, 67% in 2017, 53% in 2016, and 40% in 2015.
• Almost two-thirds (60%) of the cotton we buy is sourced as Better Cotton, making us one of the world’s largest contributors to the Better Cotton Initiative.
• 64% of the raw materials we use in our collections, such as cotton, viscose, and polyester, are now sourced more sustainably. This compares with 49% in 2018, and brings us closer to our 2020 goal of 67%.
• In Europe and China, we have committed to source 100% of our man-made cellulosic fibres from suppliers who have practices in place to prevent ancient or endangered forest products entering their supply chain.
• We work closely with Fashion for Good, and together with other leading brands collaborate to drive sustainable fashion innovations towards a more sustainable and circular fashion system; implementing new technologies from innovative start-ups into our supply chain, and working together to scale these innovative technologies for the benefit of the industry.
• We are sharing our learnings from the development of our Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM products with the industry through a collaborative report created together with Fashion for Good and shared through their Good Fashion Guide, alongside their other resources, comprising toolkits, reports, and whitepapers, which are all open source.
• We continued offering the world’s first Gold Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM jeans in several Men's and Ladies’ styles, and developed the world’s first Platinum level Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM denim fabric.
• We have brought more than 4 million pieces of our revolutionary Cradle to Cradle Certified^TM apparel to market in Europe, Brazil, and Mexico. 
• 100% of our down and feathers meet the Responsible Down Standard, and we are working to strengthen the standard.
• We worked with the Organic Cotton Accelerator, CottonConnect, and C&A Foundation to improve the business case for organic cotton for 300 farmers in India.
• We were recognised in the 2019 Textile Exchange Material Change Index as a 'Leading' brand, with 16 other brands.
• We expanded our in-store take-back programme to new geographies globally, reaching nine countries as of 2019, including an online take-back programme in Germany as well as a new online take-back programme in France.

Sustainable Supply

• We disclose 100% of our tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers across all four regions. The names and addresses of the factories, among other information, for our 635 suppliers are plotted on a supplier map.
• We continued to work with suppliers through our Supplier Ownership Programme, covering more than 67,500 workers.
• We continued to deliver a strong and constantly evolving audit process on safe and fair labour. In 2019, 52% of the workers in our supply chain work in top-performing, A- and B- rated factories that adhere to our high standards on minimum wages, anti-discrimination, abolishing violence or abuse, protection of vulnerable groups, freedom of association, combating undisclosed production, safeguarding health & safety, and environmental compliance.
• We are among the leading brands for remediation in line with the Bangladesh Accord. C&A was one of the first signatories of the Accord, and seven years on, the vast majority of the issues identified across C&A’s supplier operations have been corrected. Corrective Action Plans are in place for the remaining operations.
• We are one of the only fashion brands to disclose our entire greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and cradle-to-grave water footprint. 
• We completed our fifth hybrid life cycle assessment to measure our carbon and water footprints from cradle to grave and established science-based targets to reduce emissions. Already, in just one year since setting the new targets, we have reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 9.5% compared to the new 2018 baseline.
• Sourcing organic and Better Cotton, as well as sustainable cellulosic fibres, significantly reduced our water footprint. The use of blue water was reduced by 54%, green water by 35%, and grey water by 43% compared to conventional fibres.
• We continued to implement the Sustainable Chemicals Management (SCM) Programme at all key tier-1, tier-2, and tier-3 suppliers, with 350 production units covered globally under the SCM Programme, creating tangible progress towards our Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals commitment. In 2019, we achieved 93% SCM Programme coverage of our supplier expenditure.
• We worked closely with suppliers to build knowledge, strengthen skills, and drive remediation in the supply chain so our suppliers can meet our SCM requirements. Our 2019 analyses for nearly 55,000 chemical analytes in the wastewater of our supply chain demonstrated a pass rate of 99.6%, with the majority of analytes not detected.
• In 2019, we replaced our internal SCM Audit with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index Facility Environmental Module. This allowed us to align with the primary tool in the industry to assess environmental and chemical performance, which helps suppliers to focus and avoid duplication of efforts.

Sustainable Lives

• C&A was recognised as the most sustainable retail fashion brand for the fourth year in a row in Brazil and once again in Germany in our fifth annual survey of more than 6,000 customers, conducted in partnership with GlobeScan. Trust in C&A remained strong, with C&A rated top among apparel retailers trusted to act in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
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• We continued customer engagement in our sustainability journey with #WearTheChange, our global, multi-channel sustainability communications platform. #WearTheChange was localised in some markets and translated for use in multi-faceted outreach campaigns and internal communications.

• We phased out the sale of single-use plastic bags in stores across Europe, introducing the durable 'bag-for-life', made of 80% recycled PET, which can hold up on many shopping trips. Read more

• The Inspiring World campaign, which completed its second year in 2019, involved 63% of C&A global employees representing 20 countries, and provided nearly €1 million in donations through C&A Foundation^[1] to local charities.

• In 2019, the C&A Together programme, funded by C&A Foundation^[2],  donated €2.7 million to 122 initiatives. Funds were distributed to benefit children and young people in 18 European countries.

• In Brazil, Instituto C&A supported 127 charities and 2,452 employee volunteers also participated in 444 events, 23% more events than in 2018.

• Between March 2018 and February 2020, C&A Europe and C&A Mexico raised a total of €1.1 million for Save the Children through cause-related marketing and emergency appeals.Read more

^[1] In January 2020, C&A Foundation became part of Laudes Foundation.

^[2] In January 2020, C&A Foundation became part of Laudes Foundation.