As part of C&A’s Environmental Stewardship (ESS) Programme, supply chain partners are required to complete a 2021 Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) by the given deadlines.

The Higg FEM is an industry-leading sustainability assessment tool that standardizes how facilities measure and evaluate their environmental sustainability performance.

1. C&A requires each facility to purchase the Higg Environmental Subscription to access the Higg FEM self-assessment and verification.

• Facility Environmental Subscription – this subscription includes access to the standard Higg FEM 2021 self-assessment.
  • A must to add verification to your subscription.

 Note 1: If you are being asked to purchase the Plus by another brand, that will also be fine to meet C&A’s needs.

Note 2: New facility with fewer than 6 months of operation in 2021 is required to purchase the Facility Starter Subscription to complete Facility Foundations self-assessment and verification instead as a preparation to the full FEM in following year.

C&A is working with Higg, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s (SAC) technology partner, to help facilities complete their assessment(s). Higg will be sending email communications throughout the reporting period to each facility. These Higg communications will provide resources and guidance on next steps to ensure facilities are getting the support they need to meet C&A’s completion requirements on time.

Failure to fulfill the Higg FEM requirement will result in a Zero Tolerance according to C&A’s Environmental Stewardship Standard and the business relationship of linked supplier(s) with C&A may be impacted.

2. C&A requires facilities to reach minimum levels in order to achieve ESS ratings.
*This does not apply to FEM Foundations or facilities exempted from the full ESS programme.

3. C&A requires each facility to upload their latest climate action plan to the Higg self-assessment – Question 5 of Energy Section (Level 2).
As part of C&A’s commitment to reducing 30% of our absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 2030 from a 2018 base year, C&A Environmental Stewardship team will continuously follow up with facilities on their implementation of climate action plans.

STEP 1: (IMPORTANT) Make sure to add info@higg.com to your company email’s safe email sender list, otherwise you risk not receiving the ongoing communications due to email firewalls. If you do not receive any email from Higg by February 28 2022, please check your spam folder.

STEP 2: LOGIN OR CREATE A HIGG ACCOUNT
Facilities that already have active Higg accounts can log into Higg.org. First-time Higg users should start here to learn how to create an account on Higg.org.

STEP 3: PURCHASE HIGG FACILITY SUBSCRIPTION
Once logged in, purchase your Higg Facility Subscription from the Higg subscriptions page to access the Higg facility assessment.

STEP 4: SHARE HIGG FACILITY MODULE(S) WITH C&A
Accept the module share request sent by C&A.

If you do not see a pending share request from C&A in your modules page, under Share Requests, you should click the Share Module button to initiate the module share with C&A.

Sharing Details
Account Name: C&A
Higg ID: 8318

STEP 5: COMPLETE AND POST HIGG SELF-ASSESSMENT WITH C&A
Complete 100% of the applicable questions and post the module. Facilities that have completed the Higg FEM in previous years can use the roll forward feature to easily copy data to the new Higg FEM.

STEP 6: DESKTOP REVIEW OF HIGG SELF-ASSESSMENT WITH C&A
C&A will reach out to go through the completed self-assessments with you and identify training needs in areas of improvement.

 STEP 7: VERIFY HIGG SELF-ASSESSMENT
Verification of the self-assessment is required by C&A. Verification ensures that facilities have accurately completed all parts of the Higg Facility module – giving the self-assessment data the credibility and accuracy required to share publicly.

C&A partners with Bureau Veritas (BV) globally to ensure our supply chain gets access to a quality verification service, performed by qualified individuals, at a preferential price point. Our partners at BV will reach out to you directly to confirm and schedule your Higg verifications, you may opt to select any other qualified verifying body as well. The full verifying body list can be found at here.

Note: C&A expects the verification to be conducted onsite unless under exceptional circumstances. Please discuss with C&A ESS team first before any offsite verification is arranged.

STEP 8: UNDERSTAND AND FINALIZE VERIFICATION REPORT
Review the entire verification report submitted by your verifying body by clicking the “Review Verification” button under Available Actions tab before posting. Ensure you have made alignment on all the responses prior to the verifier submitting the verification.

Two options are available: 

• Finalize Verified Assessment (VRF): This is a one-time action. Finalizing the verified assessment confirms that you have reviewed the report, discussed issues with the Verifier/Verifier Body, and resolved any issues raised. 
• Dispute Verification (VRD): The verification can be disputed if the facility observes a breach of verification protocol or unprofessional/unethical behavior by the Verifier. Please read the Dispute Protocol on howtohigg.org to fully understand the next steps.

Once the assessment’s status becomes VRF, the discretion is on C&A to take into account any claimed inaccuracies in the report in deciding the final ESS rating.

Higg.org

• November 5, 2021 – Higg FEM 2021 self-assessment is accessible; Higg verification available to purchase
• January 1, 2022 – Higg FEM verification is accessible
• April 30, 2021 – Higg FEM 2021 self-assessment can no longer be unposted (once posted)
• October 31, 2021 – Higg FEM 2021 and verification is no longer available for purchase
• December 31, 2022 – Higg FEM 2021 reporting cycle ends; Last day to post both self and verified Higg FEM 2021

C&A’s Deadlines (2022)

• April 30, 2022 – all Higg FEM 2021 self-assessments (including upload of climate action plan) must be completed, posted, and shared with C&A
• December 31, 2022 – all verified Higg FEM 2021 must be completed, posted, and shared with C&A

• C&A GIN site
• Your C&A Environmental Stewardship Supplier Handbook
• Your C&A Environmental Stewardship (ESS) team:
  C&A Europe –

C&A Brazil – Marcelo Lobo (Marcelo.Lobo@cea.com.br) & Marcelo Cantarino (Marcelo.Cantarino@cea.com.br)
C&A Mexico – Frinee Cano (fcano@cyamexico.com)

Higg’s training website, HowtoHigg.org, contains all of the information and guidance facilities need to help them at every stage of the module completion process.

• Higg Facility Subscriptions Overview – the new way to purchase Higg facility modules
• Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM)
  • Introduction to Higg FEM
  • Prepare for the Higg FEM
  • Step-by-step instructions to complete Higg FEM
  • Verification Guidance for FEM
• Training Events
  • Check out the Higg Events Resources page to view past webinar recordings and register to attend upcoming training and office hour sessions through our Higg Training Events Calendar.
• Customer Support
  • Submit questions about Higg accounts, modules, and subscriptions to the Higg Support Team.