Regarding watershed restorations, emphasis will be placed on the Sebu River (Morocco), the Ghar el Melah wetlands and the Guerbes-Sanhadja plains in Tunisia and Algeria, as well as the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

As for the conservation of endangered species and their ecosystems, the agreement includes initiatives aimed at the recovery and conservation of the Gran Chaco tropical forest and the Pantanal wetlands, in collaboration with local communities in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, as well as projects in Mexico and China.

“Our sustainability strategy seeks to increase the positive impact of our work on people, communities and natural resources (…) We believe that WWF, with its proven track record and global reach, is the best long-term partner for powering up our environmental commitments through transformational work targeted at our entire industry,” said Inditex CEO Óscar García Maceiras at the signing of the agreement in Geneva.

Working together towards transforming the textile industry

The agreement between Inditex and WWF also includes “joint work to transform the textile industry,” according to a statement from both entities. This ambitious objective takes the form of an analysis focused on the protection of water and diversity that will be developed during the first year of collaboration. It will include a map of impacts on the Spanish group’s value chain and a review of its actions, impacts and progress.

In addition, both parties will sign a second agreement with its own budget “to make progress in the transformation of the industry,” according to Inditex and WWF.

The textile giant has also detailed that the rest of the funds raised from selling its paper bags and envelopes will go to projects run by various environmental organisations, such as Water.org and its initiative to improve sanitation networks in several Southeast Asian countries, and the collaboration between Action Social Advancement (ASA