We work to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions intensity throughout the value chain

Climate change continues to be one of the greatest challenges of our time. Our industry’s efforts to reduce emissions play a significant role in climate change mitigation. In order to mitigate our impact on the environment and contribute to tackling climate change, we have set ambitious targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emission intensity by the end of 2025.

By the end of 2025, we are committed to:

  • 40% absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations (Scopes 1 and 2)
  • 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from logistics (per kg of transported product)
  • 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of textile materials (per kg of sourced textile)
  • 50% reduction in the water scarcity score of textiles materials (per kg of sourced textile)

2019 figures used as a baseline, except for logistics, which uses 2018 figures.

In 2022, Marimekko committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to set science-based, even more ambitious targets for emissions reductions throughout its value chain in line with the UN Paris Climate Agreement. Marimekko will set the science-based emissions reduction targets in accordance with the schedule of the SBTi within two years from the commitment.

For partner suppliers’ environmental practices, such as management of emissions, effluents, and waste as well as handling of chemicals, the requirements are set in Marimekko’s Supplier Code of Conduct. The company’s sourcing teams regularly gather and assess information about environmental impacts in the supply chain in order to plan future actions.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s entire value chain, we finance climate protection projects based on the remaining emissions from certain emission sources. Read more in Marimekko’s year 2022 publication.

The carbon footprint of Marimekko’s value chain

In order to measure our progress against our sustainability targets, we calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from our entire value chain (Scopes 1–3) annually in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol standards (GHG Protocol).

The calculation has showed that the direct emissions from our own facilities and vehicles (Scope 1) and indirect emissions of our purchased energy (Scope 2) represent less than one percent of our emissions, while over 99 percent of our emissions result from other indirect emissions in our value chain (Scope 3). Most of the Scope 3 emissions originate from purchased goods and services, the use of sold products, and logistics.


In 2022, we achieved ahead of time our target to reduce emissions from our own operations by 40 percent by the end of 2025. Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 72 percent lower compared to year 2019, which is the base year of the target. The most significant action contributing to the achievement of the target was that Marimekko’s headquarters and printing factory, located in Helsinki, transitioned to renewable district heating in 2022. At our printing factory and headquarters, 100 percent of energy purchased is renewable, and the gas used at our printing factory is renewable biogas made of various types of organic waste.

By the end of 2025, our goal is to reduce the emissions from our logistics per kg of transported product by 50% compared to baseline year 2018. In 2022, the greenhouse gas emissions of our logistics per kilogram of transported product were 40 percent lower compared to 2018. The main means to reduce emissions from logistics are optimizing transportation routes and choosing lower-emission modes of transport. We continuously seek lower emission alternatives for the delivery of our products, and finance climate protection projects based on the remaining emissions from our e-commerce deliveries to Finland. In addition, our logistics partner DHL Express finances climate protection projects based on the remaining emissions of Marimekko’s e-commerce deliveries to the rest of Europe.

Significant share of greenhouse gases emitted during the lifetime of a long-lasting garment relates to its care, including machine washing, drying and ironing. To support sustainable consumer behavior that reduces emissions within our value chain, we strive to enhance the careability and repairability of our products, provide customers material-specific care instructions as part of  our care guide, and increase our offering of lifecycle services. 

Marimekko’s material strategy

We want to create items that truly last in use, and thus a key consideration for us when choosing materials is their quality. Through material choices we can also reduce the environmental impacts in our upstream value chain, and therefore we are committed to increasing the share of, e.g., less emission-intense and water consuming materials in our products and packaging.

A key measure in reducing our carbon footprint is the execution of our material strategy. With the material strategy, we aim to increase the use of conventional enhanced, organic, recycled and less emission-intensive materials and reduce the use of conventional materials. The rollout of this material strategy began in the beginning of 2021 and the results started to be visible in the 2022 collections.

Our goal is to reduce the emissions of textile materials per kg of sourced textiles by 20 percent by the end of 2025 compared to baseline year 2019. In 2022, the greenhouse gas emissions of our textile materials per kilogram of sourced textiles decreased by 7 percent from 2019 (calculated based on Higg MSI 3.5 data at Higg.org). An update in the emission factors of textile materials and the increased share of recycled and organic textiles contributed to the decreased emission intensity. Emission factors were updated to better consider actual dyeing and printing practices of different product types.

We are committed to sourcing 100 percent of our cotton as Better Cotton, organic or in-conversion cotton, and recycled or traceable cotton by the end of 2023.

Marimekko was the first Finnish company to join the international Better Cotton in 2013. Better Cotton’s mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive while protecting and restoring the environment. In 2022, Better Cotton accounted for 81 percent of all cotton sourced by Marimekko. Better Cotton is sourced via a chain of custody model called mass balance. This means that Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we source.

To support material sourcing, we have established Marimekko’s Product Policy that defines our sustainability requirements for the materials and their production processes and bind our suppliers Product Policy can be found on the guiding principles page.

The cotton we use comes from different parts of the world, for example, from India, Brazil, the United States, Turkey and Pakistan. We do not accept materials from very high-risk areas. We define very high-risk areas in our Product Policy, which binds our suppliers. Our partner suppliers must provide information about the origin of the materials used, such as cotton, annually or more frequently if necessary.