Initiated by the China National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC) and China Business Climate Action (CBCA), the Climate Innovation × Fashion Summit was successfully held on 27 August in Beijing, China. Lenzing, as one of the initial funders of the Fashion Industry Climate Fund was invited to attend the Climate Summit.

The Summit aimed to drive sustainability in the textile industry through collaboration with different global textile industry stakeholders to initiate low carbon footprint, circularity and sustainable development.

For Lenzing, being environmentally friendly and upholding sustainable production processes are the cornerstones of our business strategy. One of our flagship low carbon emission products, TENCEL^TM branded fibers, is an example of this, it not only does it have a minimal environmental footprint, but it is also soft to touch.

Based on innovation technology, Lenzing production processes have reduced their CO₂ emissions to make headway on more sustainable practices. This aligns with the Climate Fund’s mission, hence Lenzing decided to be one of the initial funders of the Fashion Industry Climate Fund. The mission to support climate change initiatives and safeguard the textile industry whilst protecting our planet resonated strongly with the Company’s ethos.

Mr. Hu Jian, Lenzing’s Senior Vice President of North Asia, mentioned in his speech that innovation and sustainability are at the core of Lenzing’s business strategy, and they are implemented in every operation process. In June this year, Lenzing announced its CO₂ emission target: a reduction of CO₂ emissions by 50% by 2030 and then net-zero CO₂
emissions by 2050. Lenzing’s investment of more than EUR 100 million will help to combat 1.3 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions shows the company’s commitment to follow the Science Based Targets concept.

“CO₂ emissions are something that effects everyone and every enterprise. As a leading company at the start of the value chain, we hope to promote the attention and practice in the whole value chain through our own efforts. Of course, the upgrade and breakthrough of the industry cannot succeed without innovation. We believe more innovation will be carried out supported by the Climate Fund, so that we can drive the whole industry forward and at the same time provide feedback to companies in the industry, in order to battle climate change together.” said Hu.

Recently, Lenzing announced its plan to build the largest lyocell plant in the world, with a production capacity of 100,000 tons per year in Prachinburi, Thailand. The investment volume for the first production line, including infrastructure and site development, amounts to EUR 450 million. Potentially, up to four such production lines can be integrated and operated onsite. According to Mr. Hu, the promising infrastructure and the bio-energy supply are important criteria for such site selection. The use of bioenergy will help reduce CO₂ emissions and support Lenzing in achieve its corporate climate target. “In the future, we will optimize our global production energy structure and introduce more renewable energy, such as bioenergy, in order to achieve the committed CO₂ emission target,” Hu added.