UNIDO has just published its Guidelines for Assessing the Environmental Footprint of Leather, which is the most thorough and credible assessment of leather's environmental performance up to date.
The Guidelines say:
"Hides and skins from animals slaughtered for human food consumption have been defined as Non-Determining Animal By-Products - as they result from a multifunctional process which does not affect the production volume. Non-Determining Animal By-Products are by definition not drivers of environmental change."
What does it mean? Leather does not drive the environmental impacts of livestock farming. Now this argument comes from one of the world's most credible international bodies - UNIDO (The United Nations Industry Development Organization)
Beyond the by-product argument, the Guidelines introduce three key takeaway that will reshape how leather's environmental performance is measured:
- Allocation of livestock rearing to raw hides set at 1.50% which is evidence-based, methodologically sound, and a significant correction to previous approaches.
- Formal recognition of leather as a bio-based material with corresponding implications for carbon accounting.
- A methodology for measuring durability and product lifespan - finally giving leather credit for what it does better than any alternative: lasting.
COTANCE will now take this work forward, raising the attention that this document rightly deserves.