On 13th November 2025, Canadian sportswear giant Lululemon released its latest Impact Report, a document summarizing its achievements from 2024 and indicating the next steps for the brand’s sustainability strategy as part of its new 2030 Impact Agenda.
High profile professional athletes and 1000+ yoga teachers hoped that this report would demonstrate tangible actions Lululemon is taking to achieve its climate targets (reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase uptake of renewable electricity, and phase out coal from the supply chain). Unfortunately, Lululemon has failed to share sufficient evidence of these steps, making it hard to determine how intention is being turned into action.
In terms of the numbers, Lululemon reports a 14% increase in absolute Scope 3 emissions (from 1.4 million tco2e in 2023 to 1.61 million tco2e in 2024) and a 3% increase in Scope 3 emissions intensity (tCO2e per $million profit). This reflects a 93.5% increase in absolute emissions since 2020 — nearly double.
Additionally, the brand reports that 15% of electricity used by core Tier 1 and 2 suppliers was from renewable sources; just a 1% increase from 2023 — off track to meet its 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2030 renewable electricity targets. While Lululemon remains committed to phasing out coal from Tier 1 and 2 suppliers by 2030, so far only 35% of suppliers have stopped burning coal on-site.
Most importantly, the $10+ billion dollar brand still has not fully addressed the concerns of our community, who are still calling for Lululemon to disclose public information about:
- Investing in widely available electrification technologies, like industrial heat pumps, to replace toxic fossil fuels.
- Financially supporting suppliers to procure high-impact renewable electricity from onsite solar and PPAs (power purchase agreement).
No concrete details on electrification of fossil-fuelled processes
“Where needed, we engage technical experts who work with our suppliers to conduct feasibility studies on manufacturing processes that require high heat. The studies assess potential alternatives to coal, including options such as biomass, natural gas, and electrification. We are also helping to accelerate electrification pathways through our investment in Apparel Impact Institute’s Fashion Climate Fund.” (page 19)
This disclosure is an improvement on previous reports where Lululemon did not specify what alternatives are being explored as they make progress on phasing out coal. However, Lululemon must prioritize electrification instead of biomass or gas, which lock factories into highly polluting and environmentally destructive fuel pathways. As an example, H&M Group has publicly recognized electrification’s role as the priority route to meet heat and steam energy demands.
Additionally, while Lululemon’s investment in Apparel Impact Institute’s Fashion Climate Fund is certainly a positive step for industry collaboration on climate solutions, it is crucial that Lululemon also invests in electrification within its own supply chain in order to address emissions they are directly responsible for. For example, H&M Group recently shared details of a heat pump pilot project they are funding at one of its suppliers in Vietnam.
Manufacturers still lacking financial support for renewable energy transition
“In 2025, we will update our climate scenario analysis, including associated risks and opportunities. We also plan to explore opportunities for a renewable energy investment fund, focused on developing renewable energy projects to support our suppliers.” (page 20)
It is promising news that Lululemon is working on funding the development of renewable energy for its supply chain, as well as ‘potential actions to support affected stakeholders’ as part of a just transition approach. However, the terminology ‘we plan to explore’ gives little certainty regarding timelines for implementation, and without a dollar amount or details of how this fund translates into a mechanism enabling suppliers to directly procure renewable energy without financial hardship, it’s unclear what the impact will be.
Other brands are already sharing information about financial mechanisms for supply chain decarbonization. For example, H&M recently announced that they are investing over $5million dollars in a Tier 2 decarbonization project and have directly funded 23 supplier projects to replace fossil fuels.
(Image source: Dalrada Climate Technology)
Our recommendations for 2026
Fortunately, the solutions for deep decarbonization of textile supply chains already exist, and Lululemon has the power to collaborate with their suppliers to implement them at scale. In 2026, we’ll continue looking out for public-facing information from Lululemon that confirms the brand is turning vague promises into reality on the ground.
Climate leadership for Lululemon could look like:
- Sharing clear, realistic timelines for the implementation of stated plans and their expected impact, moving from pilot stages through to widespread rollout.
- Sharing the results and learnings from feasibility studies and pilot programmes on electrification to foster industry-wide collaboration.
- Sharing details of how much money is being invested in supply chain decarbonization, so sustainability narratives are backed up by the balance sheet.
- Sharing information about how suppliers are being supported to procure renewable electricity and from which energy sources; this is essential for the green transition to be both equitable and credible.
- Most importantly, sharing tangible outcomes that prove fossil fuels are actually being replaced with high impact renewable energy, such as heat pumps and rooftop solar panels installed to replace decommissioned coal and gas boilers. This is undisputedly the most important way companies can ensure absolute greenhouse gas emissions will reduce at the necessary pace.
At Action Speaks Louder, we target companies that have potential to help create the systemic change we need to see across all sectors. As a leading sportswear brand with a vision for ‘resilience and innovation for people and the planet’, we’ve spent over 3 years encouraging Lululemon to meet the level of ambition its customers expect. This has led to slowed emissions growth and emerging efforts to decarbonize and electrify the energy used in the supply chain.
Each incremental step towards cleaning up fashion’s energy system makes a difference for workers and communities experiencing dangerous levels of heat, extreme weather and harmful pollution from fossil fuels. But it’s clear that Lululemon still has a long way to go until they can be considered as a brand supporting genuine sustainability, health and wellbeing.
