It's the actual production of H&M's clothes that accounts for the fashion giant's largest environmental impact, and that's where the transformation primarily needs to happen, according to the company's sustainability strategy.
That message is repeated when Impact Loop meets H&M's sustainability manager Leyla Ertur at the headquarters in Stockholm for an interview.
Leyla Ertur has worked within H&M for 25 years, 20 of which were on the production side in various locations in Asia, including Bangladesh and China. For the past five years, she has been responsible for sustainability efforts within H&M.
"I basically started after university and have loved this company throughout," she says.
Two overarching goals guide H&M's sustainability work. One is to reduce emissions in scope 1 and 2 – that is, their own direct emissions and emissions from purchased energy – as well as in scope 3, which includes all other indirect emissions throughout the entire value chain, by 56 percent. (H&M does not count emissions that occur in the use phase of products in scope 3)
The other goal is that all materials used should be sustainable or recycled by 2030.
Easier said than done, but Leyla Ertur believes business model can change in time.
"I think we can adjust our business model. I think we have already taken many steps," she tells Impact Loop.
A major carbon dioxide emitter
We are at H&M's headquarters in central Stockholm, where Impact Loop is the only Swedish media among several international journalists invited to the fashion giant to learn more about their latest sustainability measures.
H&M does not report its emissions in absolute terms in its latest sustainability report, but according to the non-profit organisation Open Sustainability Index, emissions amounted to 8.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2023. This corresponds to about 15 percent of Sweden's total emissions.
In 2024, H&M's emissions in scope 3 – which accounts for the majority of the group's climate impact – increased by 3 percent, according to the sustainability report.
The figures for 2025 have not yet been reported, but according to preliminary numbers obtained by Impact Loop, H&M's scope 3 emissions appear to have turned downward again, as the company reports a reduction of at least 30 percent in 2025 compared to the base year of 2019. In 2024, the decrease was 24 percent.
According to the company, H&M is therefore on track to meet its science-based 1.5-degree target for 2030.
This is something Leyla Ertur is keen to highlight.
"We are seeing significant progress in sustainable solutions. We see that we are reducing our emissions and increasing the share of sustainable materials without it costing consumers more in terms of higher prices," says Leyla Ertur.
The textile industry is a major environmental culprit, accounting for about 8-10 percent of global emissions. H&M has faced harsh criticism in recent years, mainly focused on the fashion chain's fast-fashion business model, which relies on rapid, cheap, and volume-driven production that fuels overconsumption, significant emissions, and growing textile waste.
Last year, H&M's sustainability ambitions were also questioned when the head of sustainability was no longer part of the management team under the new CEO Daniel Ervér's leadership. Shortly thereafter it was announced that she was back and that she had always been present at management team meetings.
Leyla Ertur doesn't comment on the latter in this interview, but she does share her view on the former. She doesn't see H&M as a fast fashion company.
The idea that fast fashion means buying, wearing for a season, and discarding is, according to her, not how H&M views its role.
"This is not who we are and not who we want to be," she says.
She argues that H&M is quick in the sense that they can rapidly follow trends and develop relevant products, but at the same time they have invested heavily in quality and the durability of their clothes. And that they make sure to complement their offering with second-hand and rental options if that is something customers are demanding.
"Innovations are the most important milestone"
Leyla Ertur instead wants to focus on H&M's roadmap towards the 2030 climate goals. Production and logistics are to be decarbonised and energy consumption reduced through efficiency improvements.
In the longer term, the goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. Here, Leyla Ertur points to innovation as the biggest uncertainty about whether they will reach the target.
To reach net zero, all the investments they are currently making – such as the textile recyclers Syre and Circulose, as well as the platforms Sellpy and Looper Textile Co – need to succeed and start delivering.
"The path to 2040 consists of several steps, where all the innovations we are investing in right now, such as textile recycling, must be further developed and commercialised on a large scale," she says.
Increased second-hand sales are one of the innovation pillars, and H&M recently invested an additional SEK 65 million in second-hand player Sellpy.
No new figures for 2025 have been reported yet, but in 2024, Sellpy's sales amounted to 0.6 percent of the entire H&M group's turnover. It's still a very small part of the business, but it's growing. In 2024, Sellpy had record sales of just under SEK 1.6 billion – compared to approximately SEK 1.2 billion the previous year.
All innovations we invest in must be commercialised on a large scale
Working with parallel innovations is intentional – and the company is continuously seeking more.
"We might encounter challenges with some of the innovations, and in the worst case, we may need to remove a solution. That's why we always invest in multiple paths," says Leyla Ertur.
Every year, they analyse around 20 new innovators through their Global Change Award, which is H&M Foundation's annual innovation prize for sustainable fashion.
"Innovations are the most important milestone to make the transition happen," says Leyla Ertur.
She also sees changes in legislation as necessary.
That countries have different rules for the import of textile waste is something that today makes large-scale recycling more difficult, according to Leyla Ertur.
She explains that H&M is actively involved in legislative matters through its public affairs team and that they have, among other things, pushed for the introduction of direct electricity purchase agreements for renewable energy, known as PPA agreements (power purchase agreements), in production countries such as Vietnam.
"All of this needs to work, and the legislation needs to be harmonised, for us to be able to drive innovation, AI, and new technology forward. These are the factors I see as the major bottlenecks in achieving our 2040 strategy," she says.
The dream: a shared EU data platform
Through expanded producer responsibility adopted by the EU, fashion companies will be financially responsible for the collection, sorting, and recycling of textiles they sell – this will also place higher demands on reporting from companies.
That's good, says Leyla Ertur. Harmonised rules create a fair playing field where companies can be properly compared. If everyone is measured in the same way, it becomes, as she puts it, an 'apple to apple comparison'.
Her dream scenario would be a shared platform where all companies can report in the same way and see each other's data, she believes. If not for all countries, then at least at EU level.
"A single platform with the same type of KPIs and reporting would be fantastic for us, both to see our own shortcomings and what others are doing, but also for customers to see how everyone is actually performing. We would be very comfortable doing that."
She argues that rankings can be misleading, as not everyone participates in the same measurements.
Green financing of £1.5bn
According to Leyla Ertur, the focus on innovation is reflected in H&M's financing strategy.
In 2021, the company issued its first sustainability-linked bond worth €500m, tied to their targets for emissions reductions and use of recycled materials. If the targets are not met, it could affect the bond's terms.
In 2023, they followed up with a green bond to finance climate and circularity initiatives.
How do you ensure that climate ambitions are not watered down – for example, for profitability reasons?
"We use different financing instruments to fund this transition. The green bond is one of the instruments we have tested – and it has worked."
In 2024, H&M invested around SEK 1.7 billion in climate and material transformation, including investments to phase out fossil fuels, support energy efficiency for suppliers, and replace conventional materials with recycled or sustainable alternatives, according to Leyla Ertur.
We are confident that we will reach our goals by 2030
For comparison, H&M Group's revenue was SEK 234.5 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. Operating profit amounted to SEK 17.3 billion. No new figures for 2025 have been reported yet.
Collaboration across different parts of the production and supply chain is also a prerequisite for achieving sustainability goals, she says.
"The point is that there are several models to drive this change – without placing the entire cost on the suppliers or on ourselves, by using the industry's collective strength, via H&M and through partnerships with other brands, to make the transition as cost-effective as possible."
Through collaborations and a structured approach, Leyla Ertur says they have managed to keep costs under control.
"When it comes to the climate issue, we are now seeing that our investment costs are starting to decrease from this year onwards, as the transition in the industry as a whole has begun to gain momentum. Four years ago, it was basically just us and a few other brands driving this, and it was very new for the suppliers."
Now it has become more of a norm, she says. Something that is also starting to show in practice and is reflected, for example, in the price difference between recycled and new materials, which is now very small.
"But of course, new investments will be needed in the future as well. Our journey continues – and we will continue to be innovative and find more and varied ways to finance this transition."
Will continue to grow
Leyla Ertur is clear that H&M will continue to grow. The fashion giant's direction is that it is possible to do this while meeting its sustainability goals – without it having to become more expensive for the customer.
And despite the criticism of the company's business model and the enormous transformation required, the tone from the sustainability manager is optimistic.
"We are confident that we will reach our goals by 2030," says Leyla Ertur.