Some Olympians don’t feel Lululemon‘s going for the gold when it comes to sustainability.
Though Lululemon serves as the official outfitter of Team Canada for the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26, some athletes feel the company contributes to a worse-off environment because of its use of fossil fuels.
Accordingly, several athletes participating in this year’s games have signed a letter calling on the company to seize the Olympics as a public stage to commit to more robust climate leadership.
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Margo Malowney, a Canadian beach volleyball player, has signed the letter, as have Great Britain’s Etienne Stott and Heather Fell, Australia’s Rhydian Cowley and the Czech Republic’s Sára Kousková.
“We applaud your efforts as Team Canada’s official outfitter to help athletes perform at their best, and we appreciate your charitable support for the next generation of Canadian athletes. But we cannot truly win if the production of our sportswear harms people and the planet,” the athletes wrote in the letter.
They go on to express their concern over the growth of Lululemon’s carbon footprint, its use of fossil fuels and its reliance on oil-based synthetic materials. The athletes said that while they understand the difficulty of moving forward quickly on sustainability, they expect the company to pick up the pace.
“We know that sustainability is a marathon, not a sprint. But with just six years—the length of an average major league baseball career—to go until 2030, it is critical for Lululemon to set strong, time-bound interim targets for renewable energy in its supply chain, and commit to providing financial support for suppliers in order to mobilize resources and address barriers to the green transition,” the letter reads.
Malowney said she feels the company should agree to be held to standards similar to those the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committee has set forth for itself.
“I am passionate about the potential for both athletes and the sports industry to lead positive change. The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committee has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2040, and Paris 2024 promises to halve the carbon footprint of previous games. To reach these goals, they need partners who share their ambition,” Malowney said in a statement.
The letter specifically calls upon Calvin McDonald, Lululemon’s CEO, to take action on the climate crisis with a solid commitment to clean energy. EcoAthletes and Action Speaks Louder, two advocacy organizations, have put their support behind the athletes’ propositions.
Action Speaks Louder has launched a number of crowdsourced campaigns against the athleisure brand, including an open letter from yoga teachers and enthusiasts asking the company to phase out coal; consumers calling on the company to change its intensity-based emissions reduction targets to absolute targets and more.
The advocacy group wants Lululemon to publicly disclose further information about its supply chain, like the energy consumption and environmental impacts production has in countries where suppliers are based. It also wants the company to commit to giving monetary and technical support to suppliers as they transition to clean energy and other, greener solutions. Perhaps most critically, the organization calls on the company to set absolute emissions reduction targets “accompanied by a credible decarbonization strategy, ahead of 2030.”
According to Action Speaks Louder, sports fans have already sent nearly 4,000 emails to the company supporting a petition outlining those goals. Ruth MacGlip, campaign manager for the non-profit, said Lululemon’s actions will only continue to harm communities if the company does not take accountability and change its ways.
“Our research suggests that Lululemon’s textile manufacturing processes present a threat to the wellbeing of local communities, ecosystems, and the broader climate crisis. To address this, Lululemon must set a public-facing, time-bound target for transitioning towards 100% renewable energy in its supply chain. Athletes no longer want to be dressed in fossil fuels, and sportswear brands like Lululemon must step up to protect the future of sport,” MacGlip said in a statement.
In the letter, the athletes address the outpouring of support for Lululemon to set achievable, green goals as it moves forward.
“Rising temperatures and extreme weather are harming athletes’ health and threatening the future of our sports. So we are joining thousands of people, from your hometown in Vancouver to the Olympic venues of Paris, to implore you to commit to deep decarbonization,” they wrote.
The athletes’ requests for change are also backed by Stand.earth, the organization that filed a greenwashing complaint with the Canadian government against Lululemon earlier this year, alleging that the company’s Be Planet campaign contains false claims that deceive consumers into thinking it’s an environmentally friendly company. Canada’s Competition Bureau opened a formal investigation into the company in May, several months after Stand.earth first filed the complaint.
And last week, a Florida consumer filed a proposed class action against the Vancouver-based company, alleging that they had been influenced to buy Lululemon products based on “misleading” information about its environmental commitments.
The letter comes on the heels of a report from Basis and FrontRunners that argues that the intensified heat patterns brought on by global warming could be posing major health risks to Olympians and other athletes.
“Fundamentally, both within and beyond sport, we must accelerate action on climate change and urgently reduce global emissions driven principally by fossil fuels. The welfare of athletes and fans, the future of the Olympic Games, and the survival of sport depends on it,” the researchers wrote in the report.
