The sustainability organization Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) reacted to the latest allegations by the Norwegian consumer protection body Norwegian Consumer Authority (NCA) and announced on Monday that it would revise the Higg Index it had developed.
The index aims to document the environmental impact of textile products according to uniform criteria and to make them transparent. It should also offer the end consumer a decision-making aid. Some well-known clothing brands had already adopted the system, but a few days ago the supposed industry standard came under criticism: the NCA rated some data as “misleading” and asked the clothing suppliers Norrøna and H&M to stop using the Higg Index for marketing purposes.
The SAC now stated in a statement that it takes the allegations made by the consumer advocates “extremely seriously” and will “pause” the program until further notice. The organization continues to believe in the relevance of standardized sustainability data, but recognizes the “additional challenges” in preparing them for end customers. She will now work together with her partner companies and organizations to find a practicable solution and to improve the quality of the environmental data. A review of the model by external experts should also contribute to this. Such an analysis, which was last carried out in 2016, was planned anyway, but is now being preferred in view of the current criticism, the SAC explained.
“We know how important it is that our members and the wider industry trust not only our mission, approach and goals, but also the data and insights behind our tools,” the organization acknowledged. She now hopes to be able to “reactivate” the program as soon as it meets the requirements of the NCA and other competition authorities.