“Allbirds recognized that the scale of our shared environmental challenges cannot be addressed by companies acting in isolation — no matter that company’s size,” said Ken Pucker, the former Timberland chief operating officer who is now professor of practice at Tufts’ Fletcher School. “All of the brand’s natural materials innovations were co-developed and openly shared with their competitors.”
https://trellis.net/article/what-allbirds-got-right/
BP, PepsiCo, FedEx and others are retreating from climate pledges, showing that voluntary action isn’t enough to tackle the growing carbon emission crisis
https://sustainabilitymag.com/news/voluntary-not-compulsory-the-change-of-environmental-goals
Coca-Cola, BP, HSBC and countless others are dropping environmental goals, highlighting the inadequacy of voluntary action.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-06-12/climate-pledges-dropped-by-coca-cola-bp-hsbc-as-planet-heats-up?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0OTczNzE4MiwiZXhwIjoxNzUwMzQxOTgyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTWFFTMEVEV1gyUFMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIzRjRGRUZFRDYwMzQ0Q0RDQjlGMTIwNTMyNzFCMUVBQiJ9.-J-3klDvYKh-TIgtwS7ZKPWLwaLmSej9ESX2K066Aw4&leadSource=uverify%20wall&embedded-checkout=true&sref=fnjoKOAK
Engaged citizens can organize to insist that their employers and legislators better represent their interests and those of their children and grandchildren.
https://climatevoice.org/climatevoices-featuring-ken-pucker/
New tariffs and the potential end of a duty-free loophole bring new challenges to fashion brands, resellers and manufacturers.
The trade policy, although a “fine step,” won’t kick consumers’ addiction to low-cost, polluting polyester clothes, according to Ken Pucker, a former Timberland executive who teaches business at Dartmouth College and Tufts University. “Even with the addition of a few dollars of duty to a Shein dress, it will still cost less than half many competitors’ garments,” he said.
https://trellis.net/article/fast-fashion-confronts-a-reckoning-on-sustainability-under-trump-tariffs/?mkt_tok=MjExLU5KWS0xNjUAAAGYmTgzF-jqZWzL04iHD3P5XzrWZxaBESuRN1u_GlwIHVUwb9dAhk-35Plz1K1MrPfqaHiblWbaIozB_3DOiiHV1zMTc70mcOptONXTI10a_w
“Since the outset, Allbirds has been clear that consumers do not buy their shoes because they are sustainable,” said Ken Pucker, professor of practice with the Tufts Fletcher School. “Instead, they seek to make the most comfortable, simple and purposeful products that happen to be lower in carbon.”
https://trellis.net/article/allbirds-wants-footwear-companies-to-copy-net-zero-shoe-design/
A backlash against complex and costly new rules is threatening Europe’s pioneering efforts to make the industry operate more responsibly. Failure to address valid criticisms risks undermining the whole endeavour, argues Kenneth P. Pucker.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/sustainability/europe-regulation-simplification-fashion-sustainability-threat-omnibus/
Looking for reasons to be cheerful has always been challenging for those working in sustainability, but 2025 is set to be particularly tough.
The new year follows one in which global CO2 emissions hits record levels, and warming crossed the 1.5°C threshold for the first time since records began.
https://real-economy-progress.com/reasons-to-be-cheerful-will-sustainability-change-for-the-better-in-2025/
Reformation’s executives call themselves a walking contradiction by combining rapid creations with an industry-leading phaseout of virgin synthetics.
https://trellis.net/article/take-a-factory-tour-of-the-350-million-fast-fashion-brand-making-surprising-sustainability-gains/
Big brands are focused on buzzy, marketable ‘solutions’ and face little accountability for failing to deliver on decarbonisation targets, but there are ways to unlock more effective action
https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/sustainability/fashion-climate-change-commitments-emissions/