Canada's competition bureau investigating Lululemon's green claims, nonprofit says
Canada's competition bu‐ reau is opening a formal in‐ vestigation into Lulule‐ mon's environmental prac‐ tices, according to a nonprofit group that filed against the B.C. athleisure giant that accused it of greenwashing.
"Stand.earth representa‐ tives were notified late last week by Competition Bureau Canada that it has officially opened an inquiry into Lul‐ ulemon, following a com‐ plaint filed by the environ‐ mental advocacy organiza‐ tion that alleges the apparel company misleads cus‐ tomers about its environ‐ mental impact," the Vancou‐ ver-based organization said in a statement to CBC News.
CBC News has reached out to Canada's competition bureau for comment.
Stand.earth's complaint, which the non-profit said was filed in February, says Lulule‐ mon's Be Planet sustainabil‐ ity campaign from 2020 - in which the company said it would work to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions is contradicted by a 2022 im‐ pact report that outlined Lul‐ ulemon's progress in reach‐ ing its climate goals.
The impact report shows the company's Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions - indirect emissions that occur as a result of a company's ac‐ tivities, including those pro‐ duced by customers using its products- increased from about 471,100 tonnes in 2020 to 847,400 tonnes in 2022. Lululemon wrote in its report that this area "needs acceleration."
The company also wrote in 2020 that it "leaned into in‐ vestments and partnerships to develop sustainable mate‐ rials that demonstrate our leadership in product innova‐ tion and environmental harm reduction."
Last year, Lululemon part‐ nered with a startup to cre‐ ate clothes from recycled ny‐ lon and polyester. But the re‐ port from Stand.earth notes that many of the company's products continue to be made with polyester or ny‐ lon, both of which are materi‐ als manufactured from fossil fuels.
"Lululemon's customers around the world need to know the real impacts of their climate pollution, not the greenwashed version they sell their products with," Todd Paglia, executive direc‐ tor at Stand.earth, said in the company's statement.
Paglia previously called out Lululemon for green‐ washing, a term used to de‐ scribe when companies, gov‐ ernments or individuals mis‐ lead others on their environ‐ mental practise or environ‐ mental benefits.
WATCH | CBC Kids News explains greenwashing:
A spokesperson for Lul‐ ulemon previously told CBC News the company is fo‐ cused on helping create an industry that is "more sus‐ tainable and addresses the serious impacts of climate change."
The company is commit‐ ted to its decarbonization plan, the spokesperson ad‐ ded, with the aim of meeting its 2030 climate targets and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
"We recognize that the majority of impact comes from emissions within the broader supply chain," the spokesperson wrote, adding that the company reported on its own emissions in the 2022 annual report.
READ | Stand.earth's let‐ ter from Canada's competi‐ tion bureau: