PVH announces multi-year water resource partnership with WWF

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Apr 17, 2018

PVH Corporation announced a three-year partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to address water stewardship and improve water quality in its sourcing communities in Ethopia, India, Vietnam and China.

PVH will work with the WWF on two new projects to conserve freshwater in Ethiopia’s Lake Hawassa and India’s Cauvery River basins. The new projects build on the organizations' existing efforts in China and Vietnam, where PVH's Tommy Hilfiger began working with WWF in 2015.

PVH's heritage brands of Van Heusen, Izod and Arrow will work with the Ethopian community in Hawassa, while Calvin Klein sources in India will work to improve water quality in the Cauvery community in South India, a region known for heavy textile production.

In an official release, Melanie Steiner, chief risk officer, PVH said, “Access to safe water is a human right that is essential for communities to thrive. Water is used at every stage of our product lifecycle. As one of the largest global apparel companies, we recognize the opportunity and our responsibility to take a lead role in addressing this pressing global issue.”

“As major trends like urbanization, population growth and climate change exacerbate existing water issues, water is not only an urgent environmental issue but also a risk to business," added WWF Senior Vice President Shelia Bonini, going on to explain how the partnership with PVH as a global manufacturer is in the public interest.

The WWF partnership is part of PVH's wider commitment to sustainability through corporate responsibility.

PVH operates in 40 countries and reports revenues of around $9 billion annually.