The Fashion Pact, a global consortium of textile and fashion companies seeking to tackle climate change, has appointed H&M Group’s chief executive Helena Helmersson as its new co-chair.

Helmersson succeeds The Fashion Pact’s co-founder and Kering’s Chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, who will continue to serve on the steering committee. In her role, she will work closely with the organization’s co-founder Paul Polman to accelerate joint action from suppliers and retailers to mitigate the impact of climate change, restore biodiversity and protect the oceans.

“In today’s urgent climate context, we need to work together to tackle challenges that one company alone can’t solve,” Helmersson said. “Now is the time to build on the great progress that has been achieved so far and accelerate emission reduction and decarbonization activity deeper down the value chain.”

“It is only by coming together we can create real change, and The Fashion Pact” unique collective power has the ability to accelerate our actions together,” she added.

Since being founded in 2020, The Fashion Pact has focused on several turnkey initiatives, including creating a biodiversity benchmark and navigation tool to help brands individually understand where they are, set up a baseline, and continue to measure progress. It has also undertaken joint projects to improve access to renewable energy and promote regenerative cotton farming, among other things.

“There is now a real momentum within fashion among leaders who don’t want their companies to be the problem, who see the immense benefits of decarbonizing their business models, and who are ready to work with others to drive the changes our societies and planet need,” Polman said.

“Yes, this sector has a long way to go, but no single CEO or business can tackle these issues alone, and The Fashion Pact offers unprecedented partnership and scale. The task now is to channel the collective courage within this impressive group so that we can all move faster.”