The production of soy in Brazil has been linked with serious ecological impacts. In order to curbenvironmental problems, there have been established public-private initiatives such as the “Round Tables”,focused on the creation of standards to make value chains of commodities products more sustainable. Thepresent study focuses on identifying the motives and challenges of the adoption of the Roundtable onResponsible Soy (RTRS) certification amongst Brazilian soy producers. The results show the adoption of the RTRS among large producer is mainly driven by potential higher pricesand access to new markets. Medium and small producer adopt the scheme in order to improve their technicalcapacity and ability to meet social and environmental regulation. On the other hand lack of demand for RTRS certified soy seems to be the main challenge for producers to adopt the certification. The gained insights willprovide practioners and academics a basis for exploring possible solutions to overcome such challenges and atthe same time, boost the adoption of the RTRS amongst Brazilian producers.

The apparel and footwear industry’s contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the fifth largest per industry, equal to that of livestock, after electricity and heat, oil and gas, agriculture, and transportation (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). For industry-wide emissions reduction, investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs across highest impacting life cycle phases offer the most effective solution. However, identifying the highest impacting life cycles phases shows varied results depending on the particular type of business model under examination. This paper responds to the lack of existing data and empirical research on how to accurately measure, report and reduce carbon emissions across the highly complex and globally interconnected apparel value chain. This is done through a single case study investigation of an Icelandic fashion brand. A hybrid approach of a standard Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Sustainable Global Value Chain (SGVC) functions to produce a Hotspot Identification Tool (HIT) to establish a holistic portrayal of business operations in relation to emission impacts and level of controllability across Scopes. The conceptual analysis and qualitative results identify the most relevant emission hotspots to lie within the company’s privately owned manufacturing facilities, as well as the procurement phase, due to its direct connection with and influence on material production, user phase, and end-of-life. The main obstacle in this pursuit is identified as restriction of resources in terms of time, capital and expertise. It is suggested that this be overcome by joining a Multi-Stakeholder Initiative where resources and expertise is pooled in a pre-competitive manner to reach common objectives. The investigation further suggests a need for global fashion brands to leverage their influential position on down- and upstream activities across the value chain, i.e. with their supply chain partners and consumers. I argue that fashion brands play an integral role in supporting local efforts to build a decarbonisation pathway towards climate neutral economies on a global scale.