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The Higg Index is an apparel and footwear industry self-assessment standard to rate environmental and social sustainability throughout the supply chain. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) launched it in 2012 and owns and develops the suite of tools. The nonprofit consists of more than 300 fashion brands, retailers, manufacturers, academic institutions, affiliates, NGOs and governments. While initially formed to create standardized sustainability metrics, the SAC has since sharpened its focus to driving pre-competitive, collective action across three foundational pillars: "Combat Climate Change", "Decent Work for All", and a "Nature-Positive Future". This is outlined in its "Evolution for Impact" strategic plan, revised in 2023.

The SAC said Higg Index tools are designed to enhance standardized sustainability pathways for the apparel, footwear, and consumer goods sectors. Today, more than 24,000 organizations around the world are using the Higg Index, and its global reach and variety ensure that the SAC can now catalyze change from within the industry. However, the Higg Index has been criticized by some for using poor data and a non-transparent approach resulting in potentially misleading information on which fiber is more sustainable.

Higg Index is hosted on the Worldly Platform.

Oeko Tex was founded in 1992 with the aim of using laboratory tests to ensure textile products are harmless to human health. This led to the development of the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100. Three decades later, Oeko Tex is made up of 17 independent textile and leather testing institutes, and offer an extensive product portfolio.

OEKO-TEX® consists of independent textile and leather testing institutes in Europe and Japan, with offices in more than 70 countries. These institute work together to develop test methods and define limit values that are the basis of the various standards developed by the organisation:

1. The product labels OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN,  OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100, OEKO-TEX®  ORGANIC COTTON  and OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD
2. The production facility certification  OEKO-TEX® STeP (Sustainable Textile & Leather Production)
3. Chemicals certification OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT
4. The certification OEKO-TEX® RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS for managing due diligence in your supply chains

The independent institutes around the world conduct both laboratory tests and company audits in accordance with Oeko Tex global guidelines. These products and process tests allow Oeko Tex clients to manage risk, meet legal requirements, and protect both people and the planet. 

Urgent action is needed by all of society, including the sports community, to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity and the damage to the natural world on which we all depend to sustain our health and well-being, and provide clean air, fresh water and food. By protecting and restoring nature, sports organisations can play a vital role in climate mitigation and adaptation both in the outdoor and indoor environments where they play and through their enormous influence with the wider public.

Sports for Nature is a joint initiative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), International Olympic Committee (IOC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy.

It aims to deliver transformative action for nature across sports, by 2030 and beyond, enabling sports to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration. It provides a game plan for sports — at all levels — to accelerate and inspire others to take action for nature.

• Click here to access the list of signatories
• Click here to access the Framework website
• Click here to access the Framework

This document sets out a framework for the UCI’s sustainability strategy to develop environmental and social objectives.

Click here to download the Policy

The IOC is committed to building a better world through sport. As outlined in its Sustainability Strategy, which underpins to a large extent this Supplier Code, the IOC follows a responsible sourcing approach by which the sourcing of our products and services is carried out with environmental, social and ethical issues in mind. Through this approach, the IOC aims to use its influence to promote higher levels of environmental and social responsibility across its value chain.

This Supplier Code outlines the IOC’s minimal requirements from its suppliers − defined as any third party providing or intending to provide goods and services to the IOC.

This sourcing code was created by Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games,  to ensure the sustainability as well as economic rationality of all products, services, etc. procured by the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee) during the preparation and operating phases of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It also clarifies the criteria and operating methods by which such products, services, etc. shall be procured. The sourcing code also defines the individual criteria for the sourcing of timber, agricultural products, livestock products, fishery products, paper, and palm oil.

The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption.

Under increasing pressure from different stakeholder groups – such as governments, consumers and investors – to be more transparent about their environmental, economic and social impacts, many companies publish a sustainability report, also known as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) report. GRI’s framework for sustainability reporting helps companies identify, gather and report this information in a clear and comparable manner. First launched in 2000, GRI’s sustainability reporting framework is now the most widely used by multinational organizations, governments, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), NGOs and industry groups in more than 90 countries. In 2017, 63 percent of the largest 100 companies (N100), and 75 percent of the Global Fortune 250 (G250) reported applying the GRI reporting framework.

The most recent of GRI’s reporting frameworks are the GRI Standards, launched in October 2016. Developed by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the GRI Standards are the first global standards for sustainability reporting and are a free public good. In contrast to the earlier reporting frameworks, the GRI Standards have a modular structure, making them easier to update and adapt.

The GRI was formed by the United States-based non-profits Ceres (formerly the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) and Tellus Institute, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1997. It released an "exposure draft" version of the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines in 1999, the first full version in 2000, the second version was released at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg—where the organization and the guidelines were also referred to in the Plan of Implementation signed by all attending member states. Later that year it became a permanent institution. In 2002 GRI moved its secretariat to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Although the GRI is independent, it remains a collaborating centre of UNEP and works in cooperation with the United Nations Global Compact.

Global sport organisations such as the International Olympic Committee rely on GRI to measure their environmental impact.

AGENDA 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance