Timberland surpassed several key sustainability goals in 2013, well ahead of schedule, according to its 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which was released this week.

 

In 2007, Timberland set a number of aggressive performance targets related to four CSR pillars: Factories, Climate, Product and Service. The goal was to achieve these targets by the year 2015. The company adapted its its goals to VF Corp.'s corporate social responsibility report (CSR) regime after being acquired by that company in 2011.

Energy

Timberland said it cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 53 percent, including a 23 percent cut just in 2013. It also sourced 32.4 percent of its energy from renewable resources, again including a gain of 20 percent in 2013. The company's 2015 goals were to reduce GHG emssions by 50 percent and source 30 percent of energy from renewable sources.

 

Timberland attributed the accelerated results in 2013 to a higher use of renewable energy sources in its European headquarters as well as in its global distribution centers.

“Timberland's emission reductions and steadfast commitment to the use of renewable energy are truly impressive,” said Anne Kelly, director of BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy) at Ceres.  “The company has long been a pioneer both in CSR and in standing up for meaningful federal policy action. Today's achievements underscore Timberland's well-earned reputation for sustainability leadership.”

Factory compliance

The report shows work hours remained the big area of non compliance at Timberland’s 367 factories in 2013. Nearly 43 percent of the factories audited had required employees to work more than 60 hours a week, 12 hours per day or more than six days consecutively in 2013, compared to 37.2 percent in 2012. Nearly nine in 10 factories, or 8.7 percent, were found to have failed to pay minimum wages, compared with 9.2 percent in 2012. Timberland said 31.4 percent of its factories globally were unionized.


Timberland rejected 12 of 49 new suppliers it screened in 2013, or 24.5 percent for failing to comply with basic levels of compliance. That compared with 20 percent in 2012, but was well below the 39 percent or fewer goal the company had set for 2015. Of those 12, seven were ultimately dropped while the rest were working with the company to reach compliance.


Environmental

Timberland reported that 36 factories representing 59.2 percent of its global annual production scored Level 2 on the Global Social Compliance Program (GSCP), which measures factories' compliance with environmental goals, compared with 32 percent of production in 2012. That was ahead of the company’s goal of obtaining 51 percent of its production in 2013 from GSCP Level 2 or higher factories. The company's goal is to get 100 percent of its production from GSCP Level 2 and higher factories be the end of 2015.

Community service


In terms of community service, this May, Timberland reached an important volunteerism milestone – the one-millionth service hour served by employees around the world.  Year-over-year, the brand served roughly 32 percent more hours in Q1 2014 vs. Q1 2013, driven by service initiatives from the Dominican Republic to Europe to Asia.

“We're excited to have hit these important climate targets so far ahead of schedule, but that doesn't mean the work is done,” said Patrik Frisk, coalition president, Outdoor Americas for VF Corporation and president of Timberland.  “As part of Timberland's ongoing mission to create sustainable impacts across our business, our environment and the communities we call home, we're always focused on continuous improvement.  This includes everything from lightening our environmental footprint to embracing volunteerism around the globe.  Now we turn our eyes toward setting new goals for 2020, to take our sustainability efforts to the next level.”

More detailed data and analysis on Timberland's progress against various CSR targets can be found on the Goals & Progress section of Timberland's CSR website, http://responsbility.timberland.com.