International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, and leading jeans-wear manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co have announced to develop a global programme to achieve environmental sustainability. Initially, a pilot project is being planned for six facilities in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. The programme will build on the extensive experience of IFC’s Bangladesh Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) programme, focusing on providing advice on implementing cleaner production practices in over 165 textile factories in Bangladesh. This is the first time that the IFC PaCT programme will be implemented outside Bangladesh.‘We are pleased to be the first IFC partner to pilot its PaCT programme in additional countries. Our goal is to scale the practices globally to achieve greater reductions in water, energy, and chemical use across our supply chain,’ said Michael Kobori, vice president of sustainability, LS&Co. The global textile sector faces critical environmental challenges associated with water, energy, and chemical use that leave a large footprint on the world’s environment.Simple and low-cost measures could reduce water use by up to 20 per cent in factories and lead to savings in future infrastructure and operational expenditure.Mohan Seneviratne, IFC Programme Manager for PaCT, said, ‘The global textiles sector makes strong contributions to the economies of several countries, creates jobs, especially for women, and has pioneered implementing climate-friendly environmentally-sustainable practices. In Bangladesh, IFC provides both investment and advisory support and works with other stakeholders, to help the garments sector become globally competitive and safe for its employees.’
