Since 2022, we’ve been campaigning to push Lululemon to act with ambition and urgency on phasing out fossil fuels and scaling up renewable energy, alongside our partners at Stand.earth. Following these efforts, the company released a report last year, sharing the first ever public-facing renewable electricity consumption target for its global supply chain — with an aim to reach 25% by 2025.
This week, the company published an update indicating a new near-term commitment to achieve 50% renewable electricity among core suppliers by 2030:
“Increasing the use of renewable electricity in our supply chain is part of the roadmap toward our Scope 3 science-based target and long-term goal of net-zero emissions. We are working to achieve 25 percent renewable electricity among core suppliers by 2025, and 50 percent renewable electricity among core suppliers by 2030.
Lululemon, May 2025
We work to prioritize higher impact renewables such as onsite solar and power purchase agreements (PPAs), where feasible. We recognize that Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) are also necessary in a global transition to clean energy and aspire to minimize the use of lower impact EACs where possible.”
We recognize that this new milestone suggests Lululemon’s supply chain decarbonization journey is progressing. In particular, the emphasis on renewable procurement quality is crucial because high-quality renewable electricity constructs like onsite solar and PPAs are key to reducing lululemon’s emissions, and most importantly demonstrating the company’s support for accelerating the global green transition.
Additionally, the company has detailed various actions it is taking to advocate for improved access to clean energy in the countries it sources from, such as Vietnam. We are hopeful that these advocacy efforts result in tangible policy changes to reduce barriers to decarbonization for Lululemon’s manufacturers.
However, key elements are still needed to demonstrate the credibility of this new target. Lululemon has an important opportunity to deliver on comprehensive decarbonization efforts by addressing the following issues in its Climate Plan, which we expect to be published later this year:
- Accompany the renewable electricity target with a clear strategy for thermal energy in its supply chain. The majority of energy consumption amongst Lululemon’s core suppliers, comes from burning fossil fuels for wet processes, not from electricity. This situation is commonplace in the fashion industry because of the demand for hot water and steam for dyeing and processing textiles. This means that the 50% renewable electricity target by 2030 does not translate to 50% renewable energy – it only covers a small portion of total energy consumption. In contrast, brands like Mango and Puma have committed to near-term renewable energy targets of 30-40%, covering all energy sources beyond just electricity, while H&M Group and Hanes Brands are aiming to manufacture with 100% renewable electricity by 2030. This means Lululemon still lags behind industry leaders.
Therefore, to fully phase out fossil fuels, Lululemon must demonstrate investment in the transition to electrification. We’ll be looking for evidence of actions Lululemon is taking to electrify thermal processes that represent a credible percentage of total thermal energy. This could start with near-term investment in heat pump pilot projects at key suppliers in countries like Vietnam, which aligns with the recommendations and feasibility data in the roadmap for low-carbon thermal energy from Apparel Impact Institute, an organization Lululemon closely supports, for example by investing $10million USD into its Fashion Climate Fund.* - Provide a plan on how suppliers will be financially supported and incentivized to procure “high impact” renewables mostly from PPAs and onsite solar rather than “lower impact EACs.” Here, we expect to see an explanation of how exactly high-quality renewable electricity procurement is being prioritised in practice, which means evidence of the company supporting its manufacturers to implement the most impactful clean energy solutions suitable for their context. This level of detail is very much in line with benchmarks for best practice across leading fashion and sportswear brands, as detailed in the What Fuels Fashion report.
We’re looking forward to continued engagement with Lululemon to progress further in terms of ambition and accountability for meaningful climate action.
*Update: On Tuesday 13th May 2025, Apparel Impact Institute published a Q&A with Lululemon’s Director of Responsible Supply Chain Environment, Leann Speta. In it, electrification is identified as the key intervention for providing a long-term pathway to thermal decarbonization in Lululemon’s supply chain. Speta explains that Lululemon is helping to accelerate this transition, including through funding pilots for heat pumps. We anticipate more details to be shared in the coming months to demonstrate the impact of these efforts.
