Next week, business leaders will gather at Hampton Court Palace in England for the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s (SMI) annual Spring Summit. While not exclusively focused on fashion, the event will have strong representation from the industry—SMI members include Giorgio Armani, Brunello Cucinelli, and Prada. SMI founder King Charles III will attend in support, along with the initiative’s new ambassador Stella McCartney, who joined last month during London Fashion Week, and Yoox founder Federico Marchetti, who leads the SMI’s Fashion Task Force.
Ahead of the summit, the SMI is at a critical point. Six years into a 10-year plan, the nonprofit is shifting its strategy to accelerate climate action before it’s too late. Alongside its focus on changing mindsets, it will now push to scale up direct impact. To support this, industry-specific working groups will be replaced with cross-sector “pathfinders” designed to bring different industries together on shared challenges like decarbonization, shipping, artificial intelligence, and growth capital. This change reflects wider industry concerns—that progress is too slow, that policymakers may not deliver on promised reforms, and that the private sector must step up to keep momentum going. But can the SMI’s softly-softly approach to private-sector diplomacy actually deliver?
CEO Jennifer Jordan-Saifi believes she is well-positioned to try. She spent the first decade of her career providing humanitarian aid in conflict zones in the Middle East, followed by a decade negotiating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the Canadian government. Diplomacy comes naturally to her, and she now uses it to persuade private-sector CEOs to act on climate reform.
Her main goal is to bridge the gap between governments that lack resources to meet fast-approaching climate targets and private-sector leaders who have capital to invest. “To achieve the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement by 2030, we need to move from billions to trillions of dollars in investment,” she explains. “Most governments don’t have the resources to do this, which is why we’re falling short. We need the private sector on board.”
According to Jordan-Saifi, who has been with the SMI since its founding in 2020—previously as private secretary to the then-Prince of Wales—the organization’s original mission was to create a kind of “United Nations for the private sector.” This meant identifying scalable climate solutions, convincing business leaders of their value, and helping them overcome barriers together. When King Charles ascended to the throne in 2022, Jordan-Saifi became CEO, while he transitioned to a more advisory role—still supportive of the SMI, but at arm’s length in line with his new constitutional duties.
The organization’s roadmap to 2030 was set out in its 2021 Terra Carta manifesto. Inspired by the Magna Carta, the Terra Carta is a private-sector guide that places nature, people, and the planet at the center of global value creation. Its ten principles include accelerating industry roadmaps, adopting common metrics and standards, scaling sustainable investment, and creating market incentives. The SMI also published a second manifesto, the Astra Carta, in 2023, aimed at “protecting our origins on Earth” as space exploration advances. If the SMI is the private sector’s answer to the UN, these documents are its resolutions.She says: “It’s really about transforming business models and economic models to be sustainable by default.”
Jordan-Saifi describes the move towards cross-industry collaborations as “a sign of maturity.” “When we started, we grouped companies by industry because many hadn’t considered sustainability before. We needed to get everyone moving in the same direction, even if at different speeds. Now, to achieve our goals, we need a more horizontal approach. We’ve always known change won’t come from one company alone; now we’re saying it won’t come from one industry alone.”
Educate and Elevate
The SMI’s main goal is to “bring leaders in and make them feel safe to learn,” says Jordan-Saifi. It’s a process of “continuous improvement,” acknowledging that “nobody will be perfect overnight.” To support this, the organization facilitates many “seeing is believing” experiences, emphasizing the power of field trips to view case studies in action and catalyze shifts in thinking.
Quantifying the impact of this soft approach, which relies on intangible metrics like mindset shifts, can be difficult. In its recent five-year impact report, the Fashion Task Force offers several examples of progress. These include the Armani Group’s experimental project growing regenerative cotton in Italy, which produced around 1,000 T-shirts, and the Himalayan Regenerative Fashion Living Lab in Ladakh, India, which supports local communities transitioning to regenerative practices and has produced a 200kg pilot run of regenerative pashmina used by Brunello Cucinelli.
Other projects focus on sharing best practices, scaling solutions, and accelerating change. Jordan-Saifi notes that some changes, like the work on Digital Product Passports (DPPs) involving brands such as Chloé, Brunello Cucinelli, and Prada, might have happened regardless. However, the SMI argues it played a key role in encouraging private-sector leaders to act early, building critical infrastructure ahead of regulations, unlike many in fashion who now face supply chain bottlenecks after waiting. “With EU regulations coming, more companies are doing this anyway, but I think we were among the first to really promote it among luxury brands,” she says.
Like many convening organizations, the SMI struggles to quantify its impact. Many claimed successes are indirect, carried out by its members—who may or may not have been influenced by the SMI—but not directly managed by the non-profit. Examples include Stella McCartney’s support for emerging materials, Pandora’s switch to recycled gold and silver, and a one-year textile waste collection trial in Spain involving H&M, Zara, and others. “Attribution is always a challenge,” says Jordan-Saifi. “We’re a peer-to-peer network driving systemic change so all actors benefit and contribute. It’s hard to pin down, but we must keep highlighting these examples so big companies see what’s possible. I’m looking for more people to elevate.”
At London Fashion Week in February, the SMI announced Stella McCartney as its first fashion ambassador. To celebrate, the designer staged an exhibition of next-generation materials and innovations, attended by the King.
This is also where the ambassadors come in. Alongside McCartney, the SMI has appointed seven astronauts as ambassadors and has…A number of sports stars are still to be announced. The goal is to “inspire change” and bring the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s (SMI) message to a wider audience, particularly where topics can become complex and “dry,” says Jordan-Saifi.
In fashion, McCartney tells Vogue Business her priorities are speeding up the use of lower-impact materials, helping suppliers transform, and demonstrating that decarbonization is achievable when the entire value chain collaborates. “What sets the SMI apart is that it’s not just talk. It brings together CEOs, policymakers, finance, and industry leaders to focus on action—making it possible for responsible choices to become commercially viable on a large scale,” she notes.
Overcoming Challenges
Convincing CEOs of sustainability’s value is one thing; getting them to implement it widely is another. “Ultimately, when it affects profits and consumers demand sustainable alternatives more strongly, CEOs will pay even more attention,” says Jordan-Saifi. “A lot of it is about education and getting CEOs to care enough to make the necessary changes. It’s important to show them how sustainability can still be profitable and support economic growth.”
For fashion, the SMI is focused on uniting CEOs to scale up regenerative agriculture, make Digital Product Passports (DPPs) standard, and make these changes appealing to consumers, says Marchetti. “The biggest challenges are scale, alignment, and storytelling. Scale is tough because regenerative agriculture and traceability require transforming entire supply chains. Alignment is complex because the fashion industry is fragmented. And storytelling is crucial because consumers need to understand why regeneration and transparency are valuable. If customers reward responsible products, transformation speeds up,” he adds. “I’m optimistic because fashion has always been an industry of creativity and reinvention. With collaboration and innovation, we can make sustainability the next great chapter of luxury.”
The SMI was founded in 2020 and was just starting out when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, pushing sustainability down the agenda as more urgent issues took priority. Soon after, the war in Ukraine shifted energy focus, the first in a series of ongoing economic and geopolitical challenges. Throughout, the SMI has had to compete with other strategic priorities, says Jordan-Saifi. “The global context hasn’t been easy since we began. The headwinds have been strong, but we can’t just wait for them to stop, or we’ll never make progress. It’s extremely important that we maintain momentum and recognize the long-term importance of this transition.”
This is where diplomacy—the SMI’s strategy—becomes key. Once the SMI gets private sector CEOs to agree on a transition path, it identifies common obstacles and takes them to governments to seek solutions. “We can go back to governments and say: we have finance, insurance, and energy companies ready to help you meet your renewable energy targets, but they need better permitting systems. There’s no way these projects will be completed by 2030 if permitting takes seven to 10 years. How can we help you—the government—get this done?” explains Jordan-Saifi. “If you want good partnerships between governments and the private sector, you need to find win-win solutions.”
Jordan-Saifi says she is cautiously optimistic. “Do I think we’ll achieve everything we want by 2030? Probably not,” she explains. “But we have to aim as high as possible to achieve the most we can. Sometimes the private sector is seen as the enemy, but if we can turn them into agents of change…”We can actually achieve our goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Inside the Global Hub for Sustainability designed to sound like questions from a real audience
Beginner Definition Questions
1 What is Inside the Global Hub for Sustainability
Its a central often digital platform or community that connects people businesses and organizations working on sustainable solutions Think of it as a meeting place for sharing knowledge innovations and best practices to tackle environmental and social challenges
2 What does sustainability actually mean here
It means meeting our current needslike for energy food and productswithout compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs It focuses on three core pillars environmental protection social equity and economic viability
3 Who is this Hub for Is it just for experts
Not at all Its for anyone interested in sustainability This includes students entrepreneurs corporate leaders policymakers nonprofits and curious individuals Theres content and networking for all levels
4 What kind of topics are covered
Topics range from renewable energy and circular economy to sustainable finance ethical supply chains green technology climate policy and social impact initiatives
Benefits Purpose Questions
5 Whats the main benefit of joining or following the Hub
You get curated reliable information and access to a global network Instead of searching everywhere you find insights trends and potential collaborators in one place saving time and accelerating your learning or projects
6 How can this help my business or career
It can help you identify new green market opportunities learn about regulations find sustainable suppliers or partners and build skills that are increasingly in demand Its great for professional development and innovation
7 Is this just about talking or does it lead to real action
The goal is to enable action While discussion is key the Hub typically facilitates things like project collaborations investment matchmaking pilot programs and the scaling of proven solutions
Common Problems Challenges
8 Theres so much greenwashing out there How does the Hub address this
A credible Hub prioritizes transparency and evidencebased content It often verifies members or featured projects promotes industry standards and provides forums to critically assess claims helping users spot true sustainability vs marketing hype