The first Annual Meeting since Cascale – previously the Sustainable Apparel Coalition – rebranded in February 2024, marks both a major milestone in the organization’s evolution, and a turning point for the whole consumer goods industry. Themed “A New Era of Unified Impact”, the event will unite over 600 attendees from around the world for honest conversations about the future of the industry and how Cascale’s members can drive meaningful and collective climate action while protecting workers across the value chain.

Colin Browne, CEO of Cascale said: “The reality is that the consumer goods industry is not yet doing enough to combat climate change. With a membership of over 300 brands, retailers, manufacturers and other stakeholders, Cascale is uniquely placed to disrupt, encourage, and influence the industry to do more – and our Annual Meeting is a significant milestone to increase the pace of change. There is no time for dithering or delay; faster progress on climate must happen now.”

The event will provide an important opportunity for unprecedented collaboration among a diverse mix of manufacturers, brands, retailers, academics, media, NGOs, government officials, and service providers. The meeting aims to empower attendees to take action – helping them to become bold advocates for change within their organizations and across the industry.

Colin Browne continued: “We know we need to show bold leadership and unwavering commitment to meet a 45-percent, industry-wide emissions reduction target. While we support our members with practical tools and techniques to help them decarbonize, we also constantly challenge them to do better.”

Across three days, virtual and in-person attendees will hear from over 80 global industry experts. Their insights, solutions and innovations cover urgent industry challenges such as decarbonization, navigating legislation, traceability, giving workers a voice, leveraging the Higg Index tools, and fiber choices.

Speakers and panelists include:

Rick Ridgeway, Author, Adventurer & Cascale Co-founder

Dalena White, Secretary General, International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO)

Shreyaskar Chaudhary, Managing Director, Pratibha Syntex Ltd.

Miran Ali, Vice President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)

Achim Loeffler, Global Business Leader, W.L. Gore & Associates

Patricia Jurewicz, Founder and CEO, Responsible Sourcing Network & YESS

Kim van der Weerd, Intelligence Director, Transformers Foundation

Scott Raskin, CEO, Worldly

Rudiger Fox, CEO, Sympatex

Tamar Hoek, Senior Policy Director Sustainable Fashion, Solidaridad & Cascale Board Chair

Liam Salter, CEO, RESET Carbon

The event is also a chance to shine a light on Cascale’s Higg Index suite of tools, on which 40,000 users depend to assess and measure the social and environmental performance of the value chain and the environmental impacts of products. The Higg Index is exclusively available on Worldly, the most comprehensive sustainability data and insights platform. Cascale’s Annual Meeting will be immediately followed by Worldly’s inaugural Customer Forum on September 12, which will be accessible to both Cascale members and non-members.

“The Cascale Annual Meeting is not to be missed,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Worldly. “It brings together Cascale members, who are also Worldly customers, for valuable content, debate, and networking that will drive action. Immediately following the Cascale meeting, Worldly will host its first Worldly Customer Forum, continuing the conversation from the Cascale Annual Meeting. This is an incredible opportunity for Worldly customers who are sustainability, compliance, and business leaders to explore how they can turn their environmental and social impact data and insights into action, advancing their impact improvement programs.”

To find out more about Cascale’s Annual Meeting 2024 and combination tickets for the event and Worldly’s Customer Forum, please click here:

https://cascale.org/events-trainings/events/annual-meeting-2024/

Cascale’s Annual Meeting 2024 is sponsored by Nike, VF Corporation, Zalando, Sympatex, Lululemon, TÜV Rheinland, Haelixa, TrusTrace, CottonConnect, GSCS International, IDFL, and Made2Flow.