Repeat Higg Filers Cut Scope 1 and 2 Emissions 22%, Cascale Says

Factories that file Cascale's Higg environmental assessment year after year cut emissions from their own operations and purchased energy by 22 percent over four years, the industry group reported on Thursday. The figure covers Scope 1 and 2 emissions — everything from fuel burned in factory boilers to electricity pulled from the grid — and lands alongside the 2026 edition of the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), which suppliers use to share environmental data with brand customers through Worldly.

"The latest impact data proves that consistent, long-term engagement leads to real-world results, with facilities demonstrating a 22 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions as their tenure grows," said Maravillas Rodriguez Zarco, vice president of tools and data at Cascale.

What the data does — and doesn't — show

Cascale didn't specify how many factories it tracked, whether it compared repeat filers against other facilities, or whether the 22 percent decline reflects total emissions or emissions per unit of production. Buyers weighing the number in their own carbon accounting should treat it as a tenure signal rather than a verified intensity metric.

The wider backdrop is moving the other way. The Apparel Impact Institute put global apparel supply chain emissions at roughly 1 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2024, a 6.3 percent rise from 2023. Its September report pinned the increase mainly on higher fiber use — polyester above all.

Compliance basics improve with reporting cycles

Cascale also measured how many factories could document baseline practices: current permits, a maintained chemical inventory and wastewater tracking. The results split sharply by tenure:

• 24 percent of first-time filers met every applicable requirement
• 37 percent of factories in their fifth reporting cycle did so
• 8,186 facilities met the full baseline in the 2025 cycle

"For manufacturers, environmental progress begins with understanding their current performance and identifying opportunities for improvement," said Mahantesh Bangari, general manager of environment, health and safety at Gokaldas Exports Ltd., a Cascale corporate member. He credited Higg FEM with providing "a structured framework to assess environmental performance, strengthen management practices and drive continuous improvement," adding that reliable data, measurable outcomes and resource efficiency build "more resilient and sustainable operations."

What changes in the 2026 module

For 2026, suppliers can report those foundational practices separately through the new Foundational Environmental Performance Module. Per Worldly's factory guidance, the shorter form carries about a tenth of the questions on the full assessment, and only facilities that skipped the 2025 assessment can use it. It shows suppliers which requirements they missed and produces a result they can share directly with buyers.

The update also adds automated checks on reported water use, with verification focused on Level 1 questions — the ones that make up the baseline. Factories completing the full assessment get the same baseline result plus energy and emissions figures their customers can feed into corporate carbon accounting.

Coats, the thread maker and another Cascale corporate member, framed the tool's value in those terms. "Consistent measurement is essential to turning sustainability commitments into meaningful progress," said Chris Dearing, vice president of group sustainability at Coats. "Higg FEM helps us assess environmental performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and track progress over time."

Suppliers are already swapping in real data

Some manufacturers have moved past generic emission factors entirely. Italy's Teddy Group, which outsources production for brands including Terranova and Calliope, uses Higg supplier data to calculate its emissions. "We were able to replace generic standard emission factors with actual, far more precise figures," Eleonora Lepri, the company's environmental lead, said in a statement issued by Worldly.

For sourcing teams, the decision the news forces is straightforward: factories with longer Higg filing histories now carry a documented emissions and compliance advantage, and buyers still working with first-time filers — nearly four in five of whom miss at least one baseline requirement — should expect a longer remediation runway before supplier data is audit-grade.