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Industry challenges Veja’s leather decision
Veja has published the results of a lifecycle assessment (LCA) exercise, claiming that it shows raw materials to contribute more than 70% of its total carbon footprint, with leather accounting for almost all of that. Senior figures in the leather industry have entered into dialogue with the Paris-based footwear brand, but Veja is sticking to its numbers and has trumpeted a decision, based on those figures, to reduce its use of leather.
Footwear brand Veja published a detailed report on its carbon footprint earlier this year. It said that the raw materials it uses to make its shoes contribute 71% of its total carbon footprint. It went on to say that leather accounts for 97% of the impact of all of its raw materials. Based on this, Veja said it had decided to reduce the presence of leather in its collections. It pointed out that, while 70% of the shoes in its autumn-winter collection in 2019 contained leather, the corresponding figure for autumn-winter 2020 was 51%.
In its calculations, it found that, roughly, 70% of the carbon footprint that it attributes to leather occurs upstream in the supply chain, mostly from cattle farming. It attributed the remaining 30% to leather production and transportation (please see below for a more detailed breakdown). Paradoxically, the brand also said in the report: “Even if using leather is not always the best…
