Positive Luxury Reveals ESG+ 2.0
Akin to a B Corp standard for luxury goods, Positive Luxury embarked on its latest launch Wednesday: ESG+ 2.0.
The ESG+ 2.0 Progress Assessment Platform, in the words of Amy Nelson-Bennett, chief executive officer of Positive Luxury, is a “game-changer.”
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“We’re extremely excited about the new tools and services we’ll be providing to the global luxury industry to help deliver real change,” she said. “Combining game changing technology with rigorous international standards, forthcoming legislation such as CSRD and best practice principles such as double materiality, we are now able to deliver a 100-percent bespoke sustainability service for every client that focusses on the material topics that matter most to each business and makes best use of their resources and time. And we’re now better able to offer programs to suit every size of luxury business and every budget, whether a company just wants to get started or has the ambition to transform itself and earn Butterfly Mark certification.”
Per the firm, every client starts with a baseline assessment before priorities are determined. “Leveraging the 2.0 suite of diagnostics, our in-house experts then work closely with each client to fast-track performance improvement,” Nelson-Bennett said. “A client’s assessment is updated until the ‘final assessment’ when, following a double-verification process of answers and evidence, it reaches or exceeds our minimum standards of 50 percent across all three core environment, social and governance pillars. On average, clients’ baseline score is a 28 and by the time of the final assessment six to 12 months later they have improved to an average score of 67 across E, S and G, reflecting the depth and breadth of the positive impact our Real Changemakers are delivering.”
Progress is real-time and tailored to each company. That being said, company size can warrant a basic pulse check. Nelson-Bennett said smaller businesses early in their sustainability journey may have 250 data points supported by evidence, whereas a larger and more mature company could delve into bonus zones generating 500-plus data points supported by evidence.
The 2.0 framework follows ISO’s standardized methodology, with attention to TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures), TNFD (Task Force on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures), GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) and SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) reporting principles, as well as the United Nations’ 2030 goals.
The newest version also boasts regulatory alignment. “To help our clients prepare for the dramatic increase in sustainability-related regulations, 2.0 integrates forthcoming sustainability legislations such as CSRD in the EU, the UK Green Claims Code, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act from the U.S. and France’s Anti-waste Law for a Circular Economy,” Nelson-Bennett said. “Double materiality, which is the basis by which our 2.0 assessment identifies the inward- and outward-facing material risks and impacts for each of the sectors we support, has for some time been considered best practice but has also now been introduced as a requirement within the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Initiative.”
Positive Luxury has been in the game since 2011. To date, there are 185 community members using the ESG+ Butterfly Methodology across six sectors, among them fashion, jewelry and beauty. All new clients will utilize the new 2.0 Progress Assessment Platform on Wednesday and all current clients will be migrated onto the new platform across October and November.
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