European Accelerator initiative announces new industry resources and pilot project for fashion supplier decarbonisation
- The European Accelerator initiative – spearheaded by The Fashion Pact with leading luxury fashion houses – announces its latest progress in decarbonising fashion supply chains
- The European Accelerator now moves from harmonising data collection to capacity building by supporting suppliers to individually define their roadmap towards decarbonisation solutions through the launch of the Decarbonisation Accelerator Framework
- The European Accelerator is also launching a pilot project to develop a collective Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for suppliers in the Como textile district, Italy
The European Accelerator initiative – spearheaded by The Fashion Pact – has today announced its latest progress and next steps to accelerate the decarbonisation of fashion supply chains.
The European Accelerator brings together seven leading fashion groups and houses, including Burberry, CHANEL, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, Jimmy Choo, Kering, Moncler Group and Prada Group, and aims to drive forward collective action towards reducing emissions, boosting efficiency, and building long-term resilience in fashion supply chains.
The European Accelerator was launched in October 2025 with an initial focus on further harmonising environmental data collection via an optional template and questionnaire. Building on this foundation, the initiative is now moving from data collection towards practical next steps by supporting suppliers to assess, define and prepare the implementation of energy efficiency solutions and adoption of renewable energy. In doing so, the initiative is developing the tools, technical support and collective approaches needed to help suppliers progress their decarbonisation journeys.
Progress since the European Accelerator questionnaire launched in 2025
The harmonised data collection approach has been gaining traction in the industry, with brands now individually using the questionnaire under their own initiative to gather information from their supply chain for their environmental reporting metrics.
The harmonised data questionnaire remains open-source and available to all interested brands. It has been updated following supplier and brand feedback to strengthen understanding of supplier governance structures, environmental governance, greenhouse gas emissions calculation methodologies, and more precise details of decarbonisation actions and investments.
Practical roadmap to decarbonisation
The European Accelerator is now entering its second phase, focused on leveraging the data collected to incrementally drive concrete action. This phase includes the launch of the Decarbonisation Accelerator Framework.
The new resource has been developed from the questionnaire’s data and a pilot scheme – engaging a diverse group of suppliers spanning textile manufacture, tanneries, metallic and plastic accessory manufacturers and finished product manufacturers – to provide suppliers with a practical tool to be considered for the decarbonisation roadmap.
The Framework is a voluntary self-assessment tool to help suppliers clearly understand where they stand in their decarbonisation journey and identify individually the most relevant next steps to progress while balancing environmental impact, technical feasibility and economic impact.
It has been developed with the support of the technical expert Quantis, and input from key industry stakeholders including Confindustria Moda, Istituto di Certificazione della Qualità per il Settore Conciario (ICEC) and Consorzio Physis.
This self-assessment tool will be made open-source and available for the wider fashion industry, to help create a coherent framework, accessible through the European Accelerator website here.
Within the Framework, the European Accelerator has developed a practical implementation Playbook that translates recommendations into actionable steps and includes supplier case studies highlighting successful decarbonisation initiatives.
Building the foundations for a collective PPA for suppliers
Among the pathways identified through the Framework, access to renewable energy is a key lever for supplier decarbonisation. As an example, in the Como textile district in Italy, energy is estimated to account for approximately 40% of operating costs, according to Confindustria Como Textile Group. Moreover, it can be challenging for suppliers to individually access the solutions to support this transition, such as Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
In light of this, the European Accelerator is providing technical assistance and coordination for a feasibility study to develop a collective PPA for suppliers in the Como textile district. The feasibility study is co-financed by the European Accelerator and Confindustria Como. Both organisations have given the mandate to Centro Tessile Serico Sostenibile (CTSS), Consorzio Energia Lombardia Nord and J4Energy to respectively coordinate and provide technical support to the study.
By enabling suppliers to collectively procure renewable electricity, the proposed PPA could provide a pathway to reduce emissions while also strengthening economic resilience through greater price predictability.
The study could lead to the first district-level collective PPA developed specifically for Italy’s textile industries supply chain players – according to Quantis’ market knowledge. Outcomes from the Como study could help inform real progress with the possibility to be replicated across other Italian industrial districts and potentially across wider European fashion supply chains.
Notes to Editors
For more information and interview requests, please contact TheFashionPact@greenhouse.agency.
About The Fashion Pact
The Fashion Pact is a non-profit organisation working to accelerate a net-zero, nature-positive future for the fashion industry through CEO-led collaboration. It brings together brands, retailers, suppliers, and manufacturers from across the global fashion and textile value chain, all represented at CEO level. By leveraging collective action, The Fashion Pact drives measurable progress at scale across four key areas: nature, lower-impact production, lower-impact materials, and renewable energy.
