Hirdaramani Group gets net-zero status of GHG emissions

21 May '19

3 min read

Pic: Hirdaramani Group

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy use at Hirdaramani Group’s Sri Lankan apparel vertical have attained a net-zero status. This has been externally validated, considering overall emission reductions stemming from investments in renewable energy, and the actual emissions from energy use in their apparel manufacturing operations in Sri Lanka.

The quantification has been done using ISO 14064 standards. ISO 14064 1 and 2 standards specify principles and requirements at organisation and project levels for quantification and reporting of (GHG) emissions and removals.

As the first stage of this processes, Hirdaramani engaged the Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) - Southeast Asia’s leading provider of carbon management services — to conduct a GHG assessment of the groups’ Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as they apply to the apparel sector and renewable energy sector respectively.

CCC calculated the overall environmental impact of the group’s 19 factories spread across Sri Lanka at an individual factory level. Separately, they conducted an assessment of three wind power plants located in the Puttalam district generating 29.7 MW of energy. The projects are jointly owned by the Hirdaramani Group and the Akbar Brothers Group under the JV company WindForce.

Following the detailed assessment by CCC, the Hirdaramani Group submitted both the factory emissions and renewable energy projects for verification and validation by The Sustainable Future Group (SFG), who specialise in verification and certification services for ISO 14064.

The group’s 19 factories were assessed under the ISO 14064 – 1 standard quantifying the emissions from sources owned and operated by each of the factories. SFG also assessed the group’s wind power projects (Seguwantivu – 9.6 MW, Vidatamunai – 9.6 MW and Daily Life Renewable Energy – 10.5 MW) under the ISO 14064 – 2 standard by verifying the GHG emission reductions created by these.

“At Hirdaramani we have a very ambitious sustainability strategy, linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, that has a clear, effective and actionable framework to deliver real results. Climate change is a major global challenge that we all need to address and thus we are proud to have achieved this milestone in our on-going sustainable journey.” said Nikhil Hirdaramani, director, Hirdaramani Group.

Commenting on the achievement, Sanith de S Wijeyeratne, CEO of CCC stated, "For the first time we are seeing a large scale group take measures to substantially, independently and impartially calculate, validate and certify their carbon footprint against the internationally recognised ISO 14064-1 standard while at the same time being able to positively compare this against the quantified and validated emissions reductions that have arisen from the group’s investments in renewable energy, once again using the global ISO 14064 – 2 standard. We are proud to have been part of this singularly unique achievement in the region, in conclusively showing that the group’s overall emission reductions exceed its actual emissions thus creating a net zero status for emissions from energy.” (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India