The fabric of change: Tekla’s partnership with Normative

Established in Copenhagen in 2017, Tekla is a dynamic and rapidly growing home textile brand that aims to redefine luxury through its modern values, creating elevated yet functional pieces of uncompromising quality. 

At the heart of Tekla’s ethos lies a commitment to crafting textiles that stand at the intersection of quality and environmental integrity. Confronted with the challenge of tracing emissions through its supply chain, Tekla embarked on a journey with Normative to navigate this complex terrain – guided by its Head of Sustainability, Pippa Smart. Through collaboration, Tekla built a reliable foundation of carbon data, consolidated sustainability efforts, and wove environmental considerations into long-term business planning.

Why carbon accounting and why Normative

Driven by a commitment to responsible business practices, Tekla chose carbon accounting to lay a solid foundation for its sustainability strategy. The collaboration with Normative aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of Tekla’s emissions, pinpointing key areas to mitigate its impact and aligning with Tekla’s principles as a B-corp-certified company.

Shifting to Normative represented a pivotal change in Tekla’s sustainability efforts. While they had previously used automated carbon accounting, collaborating with Normative’s expert climate strategy advisors brought a new depth of understanding to its overall environmental strategy, enabling more targeted and effective sustainability initiatives across its supply chain.

The heart of the strategy: value chain engagement

A pivotal aspect of Normative’s strategy for Tekla was the management of its value chain, especially its relationships with suppliers, many of whom are based in Portugal. 

The decision to grow its value chain engagement program was a strategic move born from Normative’s in-depth analysis of Tekla’s carbon footprint. The assessment revealed that 99% of Tekla’s emissions came from scope 3 sources, with a significant portion driven by the procurement of finished textile products, such as those involving sewing and cutting processes.

This insight underscored the need for active dialogue with the suppliers about energy use in production and eco-friendly material selection. During the engagement process, Tekla leveraged Normative’s Engage Module for data collection, with climate strategists providing expert guidance on the essential information to gather from suppliers. 

Through its partnership with Normative, Tekla now has the ability to evaluate the sustainability maturity of its suppliers. As Pippa Smart suggested, this constitutes an exciting opportunity: by leveraging this data to understand where different suppliers stand in their climate action efforts, Tekla could connect suppliers to share best practices and learnings. The initiative would enable more experienced suppliers to guide and inspire those embarking on their sustainability paths.

This synergy leads to a mutually beneficial cycle of learning and growth, advancing environmental responsibility collectively.

The strategy is complemented by Normative’s educational resources, meant for companies to share with their suppliers. These insights, providing details on carbon reporting best practices and methods, are available to suppliers through the Network Accounts on the Normative platform, as well as in custom workshops for suppliers led by Normative climate strategists.

The Network Accounts simplify the data collection process while serving as a powerful educational tool, equipping suppliers with the knowledge and motivation for their sustainability initiatives. Not only does this process promote a collaborative network, but it also provides a significant benefit for businesses: it enables them to equip their suppliers with essential resources and guidance on sustainable practices.

The results

Actionable insights and climate strategy

Normative’s objective was to thoroughly analyze and clarify Tekla’s carbon emissions, focusing particularly on its scope 3 emissions. Utilizing Normative’s advanced carbon accounting engine and leveraging the insights from its climate strategy advisors, Tekla gained a precise and comprehensive understanding of its emissions profile. 

During the process, Tekla found a powerful solution in Normative’s value chain engagement tool. This tool is emerging as a cornerstone in its strategy, offering a centralized hub of relevant environmental insights about its suppliers. 

This holistic perspective was crucial for Tekla to delve deeper into the status and practices of each supplier, enabling them to pinpoint areas needing attention and identify leaders who could influence positive changes within the supply chain.

Having a consolidated snapshot of supplier data greatly facilitated Tekla’s decision-making process. It allowed the company to tailor its sustainability strategies effectively, aligning them with its specific business objectives and stage of development.

An additional layer of support came from Normative’s climate strategists, who brought a wealth of experience spanning various industries and regions. This combination of advanced tools and expert guidance played an instrumental role in enhancing Tekla’s approach to sustainable supplier management – offering a rapid assessment of possible reduction practices and catalyzing progress towards eco-friendly material selection.

The impact at a glance

The insights from this partnership have been instrumental in refining Tekla’s business decisions, targeting emission reduction areas, and bolstering its sustainability reporting. This strategic supplier engagement has not only deepened Tekla’s understanding of its carbon footprint but also reinforced its commitment to responsible textile manufacturing.

By embracing Normative’s innovative solutions, Tekla is redefining industry standards, proving that proactive environmental stewardship is not just necessary—it’s achievable.

In its journey, facilitated by Normative, the brand has seamlessly blended high-caliber textiles with high-impact sustainability practices, showcasing a business model where the quality of creation is as important as the ethics behind it.

Executive summary

• Enhanced sustainability reporting: Tekla, in partnership with Normative, significantly improved its environmental impact reporting, achieving comprehensive and accurate visibility of its supply chain emissions.
  
• Strategic decarbonization initiatives: Armed with detailed emissions data, Tekla advanced targeted strategies for action within its supply chain, strengthening its commitment to responsible manufacturing.
  
• Improved supplier engagement and management: Tekla leverages Normative’s carbon insights to effectively engage with suppliers – to start to drive and foster collaborative efforts towards eco-friendly material selection and lower-emission energy transitions.
  
• Reinforced industry leadership and commitment: The collaboration with Normative positions Tekla as a leader in sustainable textile manufacturing, blending high-quality production with impactful environmental stewardship.