Impact report: VF Corp meets operational goals, suppliers are next

Progress at VF Corp’s own operations “addresses only a small part of our overall emissions footprint,” CEO Bracken Darrell writes in the company’s fiscal 2026 Environmental & Social Responsibility Report, published Sept. 23. Ahead of schedule, VF has reached its 2030 target for cutting its direct emissions and those from purchased electricity, but those two sources made up about 2.4 percent of its footprint in fiscal 2025. The other 97.6 percent sits in the supply chain.

And there, in the supply chain, we took a closer look at what the report shows.

Own operations: target met, on a small share of the footprint

VF cut the emissions it controls directly, plus those from the electricity it buys (known as Scope 1 and 2), to 31,178 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in fiscal 2026. That is 69 percent below its 2017 level, against a target of 55 percent approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. 

Renewable electricity coverage rose from 31 to 100 percent in one year. 

Suppliers: the larger emissions, and behind the pace needed

Emissions from suppliers and the rest of the value chain, known as Scope 3, are far larger. VF’s target covers purchased goods and services plus upstream transport and calls for a 33 percent cut by 2030. The latest figure is for fiscal 2025, because VF reports Scope 3 a year behind: 2,133,298 metric tons, 13 percent below the baseline, or 39 percent of the way to the target.

The baseline changed. VF moved to a dedicated carbon accounting platform and now counts materials used in its products rather than materials bought, which cut its 2017 Scope 3 baseline by 43 percent. VF says the earlier method overstated emissions. Supplier factories are the main lever: seven have stopped using coal, and 15 more are phasing it out.

Materials: polyester on target, cotton fell short

Recycled material made up 71 percent of VF’s polyester, above the 50 percent target it had already met in fiscal 2025. Cotton fell short. Some 83 percent came from Australia, the U.S. or a third-party sustainability scheme, against a goal of 100 percent set in 2016. VF cites shifts in sourcing, measurement and the schemes themselves, and is considering a new cotton target.

VF brands used 6,423 metric tons of cotton, leather, natural rubber and wool grown with regenerative farming methods, including rubber used by The North Face, boot brand Timberland and Vans. On wool, an outside stakeholder raised animal welfare concerns about compliance with the ZQ certification standard, which is run by Zentera. VF says it investigated with the certifier and addressed all matters found, but gives no detail.

Circularity remains a set of brand programs rather than a target, and Darrell calls them modest against VF’s scale. VF says prior-year materials and chemistry figures can no longer be compared with the new ones.

Factories: nearly one in 10 failed to comply with VF requirements

In fiscal 2026, 78 of 912 audit results were rated red or black. VF says failing to remediate can lead to a downgrade and possible contract termination. 

Women make up 62 percent of supply chain workers, yet programs on gender-based violence and harassment reached 27 of VF’s 949 facilities. On pay, VF says every worker should earn enough to meet basic needs, but it requires only the legal minimum or prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and encourages improvements beyond that.

Conclusion: candid reporting, but targets cover part of the agenda

VF is open about its limits: the emissions target covers a small share of the footprint, cotton missed its goal and method changes break comparisons with earlier years. That candor makes the gaps visible. The gaps sit in the targets. VF sets six formal targets, four with fiscal 2026 deadlines, and tracks water, chemistry, circularity, employee and supply chain data without targets. The Scope 3 target leaves about 27 percent of the footprint outside its scope. Whether those areas get formal goals is the question for the next report.