The Higg Index: Fashion’s Sustainability Measurement Standard

The Higg Index is the apparel and footwear industry’s standardized framework for measuring environmental and social sustainability performance across supply chains — from fiber sourcing to factory floor to finished product. Developed by Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), it provides brands, manufacturers, and retailers with quantifiable, defensible data to meet the growing demands of regulators, investors, and consumers alike.

Sustainability accountability has moved well beyond voluntary pledges. Binding regulations — including the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and Germany’s Supply Chain Act (LkSG) — now impose hard legal obligations on companies to assess and disclose environmental and social risks throughout their supply networks. For apparel and textile enterprises, the Higg Index has become a foundational tool for generating the consistent, audit-ready data these regulations require.

From sourcing offices to ESG strategy teams, the question has shifted from “Should we measure sustainability?” to “How do we do it credibly, consistently, and at scale across materials, manufacturing, and global partners?”

That’s why the Higg Index is gaining momentum: it provides a unified framework for assessing and comparing environmental and social impact, enabling companies to respond to both market expectations and legal due diligence requirements with confidence.

What Is the Higg Index?

The Higg Index is a set of standardized tools for measuring the environmental and social performance of apparel, footwear, and textile companies and their supply chains. Developed by Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), it launched in 2012 to address a crucial gap: the lack of a unified, credible way to assess sustainability across the industry.

Before the Higg Index, brands and their suppliers faced a confusing patchwork of audits, surveys, and standards. This led to “audit fatigue” for factories, inconsistent data, and limited opportunities to benchmark progress. The Higg Index solved this by offering a comprehensive framework that everyone — from small suppliers to global brands — could use. Today, as regulations such as CSDDD, CSRD, and LkSG require companies to document and disclose supply chain due diligence, the Higg Index provides the structured, comparable data that compliance teams need to meet their obligations.

What Tools Make Up the Higg Index?

The Higg Index is a family of five tools, each designed for a specific part of the value chain.

Tool	What it Measures	Used By
Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM)	Resource use, emissions, chemical handling, waste	Factories, mills
Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM)	Worker safety, wages, grievance mechanisms, hours	Suppliers, manufacturers
Higg Brand & Retail Module (BRM)	ESG governance, sourcing, risk management	Brands, retailers
Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI)	Environmental impact of fibers and fabrics	Design and sourcing teams
Higg Product Module (PM)	Lifecycle footprint of finished products	Product development teams

How Does the Higg Index Work?

The Higg Index process typically starts with a self-assessment. Facilities or brands complete detailed questionnaires, inputting data on everything from energy bills to wage records. Increasingly, these assessments are verified by independent third parties to ensure accuracy and credibility — a requirement that aligns directly with the verification expectations under CSRD and CSDDD due diligence obligations.

From here, the Higg tools generate scores and reports highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. These results can be shared internally, with supply chain partners, or — if verified — publicly for greater transparency and to satisfy stakeholder disclosure requirements.

In most cases, Higg assessments are completed annually, allowing companies to track progress over time and benchmark against industry peers. This annual cadence also supports ongoing regulatory reporting cycles under CSRD and Scope 3 emissions frameworks.

Who Uses the Higg Index?

The Higg Index is used by over 40,000 users worldwide across the apparel, footwear, and textile value chain, including:

• Global Brands: Nike, Adidas, H&M, Patagonia, Levi’s, and many more — using Higg data to meet CSRD disclosure requirements and support LkSG due diligence documentation.
• Manufacturers and Suppliers: From large vertically integrated mills to small cut-and-sew factories responding to brand-mandated ESG assessments.
• Retailers: Companies assessing the sustainability performance of private label products and supply chain partners to meet investor ESG expectations.
• NGOs and Industry Groups: Using Higg data as a basis for advocacy, research, and policy recommendations aligned with GRI and EU taxonomy standards.

What Questions Do the Higg Tools Help Answer?

“Where Are My Biggest Environmental and Social Impacts?”

The Higg Index breaks down impacts into specific categories — water use, carbon emissions, chemical management, and labor practices — so companies can pinpoint their most pressing challenges. For example, a factory might discover that its water usage exceeds the industry average, or a brand might identify gaps in its supplier wage policies that create exposure under LkSG human rights due diligence requirements.

“How Do I Compare to Industry Peers?”

Because the Higg Index is standardized and widely used, it enables benchmarking. Companies can see how their scores stack up against similar organizations, driving healthy competition and inspiring measurable improvement — a key input for CSRD-aligned sustainability reporting.

“What Should I Prioritize for Improvement?”

The detailed results and analytics provided by the Higg tools highlight areas where performance lags behind best practices or regulatory requirements. This enables focused investment in the areas that matter most — whether reducing energy consumption, improving worker safety, or switching to more sustainable materials — directly supporting CSDDD risk mitigation obligations.

“How Can I Communicate My Progress Credibly?”

With regulators and investors demanding credible, third-party verified sustainability data, brands need more than internal pledges. Verified Higg Index scores can be shared with consumers, investors, and regulators to demonstrate real, measurable progress — supporting CSRD disclosure requirements and protecting against greenwashing allegations that regulators are increasingly scrutinizing.

What Are the Benefits of Using the Higg Index?

1. Standardization and Efficiency

The Higg Index reduces the need for multiple, overlapping audits and surveys. This saves time and resources for both brands and suppliers, consolidating assessment data into a single framework that can satisfy the reporting requirements of multiple regulations simultaneously — including CSDDD, CSRD, and LkSG.

2. Data-Driven Decision Making

By providing concrete, comparable data, the framework empowers companies to make smarter sourcing and investment decisions — whether choosing lower-impact materials, revising supplier contracts, or prioritizing corrective action for high-risk facilities. In a regulatory environment increasingly driven by quantified ESG metrics, this data foundation is indispensable.

3. Continuous Improvement

The annual cycle of assessment, benchmarking, and action creates a culture of continuous improvement. Companies can set measurable goals, track progress across reporting periods, and demonstrate year-over-year advancement to investors and regulators — a critical capability for CSRD compliance.

4. Transparency and Trust

Verified Higg data builds trust with stakeholders. It helps brands meet the growing demand for transparency from consumers, NGOs, institutional investors, and regulatory bodies — particularly as CSDDD requires companies to publicly disclose how they identify and address human rights and environmental risks in their supply chains.

5. Regulatory Compliance

With binding regulations now in force across the EU — including CSDDD, which imposes supply chain due diligence obligations on large companies, and CSRD, which mandates structured sustainability reporting — the Higg Index helps companies generate the standardized, verifiable data needed to demonstrate compliance. For companies operating in Germany, the LkSG (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz) similarly requires documented due diligence on human rights and environmental risks across the supply chain.

What Criticisms Has the Higg Index Faced?

The Higg Index, while widely adopted, has not escaped criticism — particularly around data quality, methodological depth, and the degree of transparency in how results are shared.

A primary concern has been the Index’s early reliance on self-reported data, which raised questions about consistency, accuracy, and potential bias across regions and facilities. Although third-party verification is now supported and increasingly encouraged — and increasingly expected under CSDDD and CSRD frameworks — it is not yet mandatory in all cases, and data quality concerns continue to surface.

The Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI), in particular, has drawn scrutiny for oversimplifying material comparisons. Critics argue that the methodology can fail to account for important contextual impacts, such as biodiversity loss, land use intensity, or the environmental value of regenerative practices. These omissions can lead to misleading conclusions that mask trade-offs critical to responsible sourcing decisions under CSDDD environmental due diligence requirements.

Another limitation is the inconsistent transparency of Higg scores. Although the Index was designed to promote open reporting, many brands and suppliers choose not to publish their results — undermining its potential as a tool for industry-wide accountability and weakening the benchmarking and stakeholder trust that modern ESG frameworks depend on.

How Is the Higg Index Evolving?

Criticisms of the standard have directly shaped its ongoing evolution. Cascale continues to refine methodologies, expand impact categories, and strengthen verification and reporting standards in response to both stakeholder feedback and tightening regulatory requirements.

Key areas of evolution in 2025-2026 include:

• Improved Data Quality:
  More robust third-party verification processes and digital data collection are making scores more reliable and defensible for regulatory purposes.
• Expanded Scope:
  New modules and updates address gaps such as circularity, biodiversity, and climate risk — aligning with emerging EU taxonomy requirements and Scope 3 reporting expectations under CSRD.
• Greater Accessibility:
  Training, support, and user-friendly platforms make it easier for suppliers of all sizes to participate — an important consideration as CSDDD extends due diligence obligations through supplier tiers.
• Alignment with Regulations:
  Cascale is actively updating the Higg Index to help brands satisfy due diligence and reporting requirements under CSDDD, CSRD, and LkSG — positioning it as a compliance-ready tool for the evolving European regulatory landscape.

Use Cases of the Higg Index

Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi’s uses the Higg FEM to assess environmental performance at its supplier factories. By analyzing water and energy use, the company identified high-impact facilities and invested in water-saving technologies, resulting in significant reductions in water consumption across its supply chain — generating the verified performance data now required under CSRD-aligned sustainability disclosures.

Read the Levi Strauss & Co. Higg Module Scores

H&M Group
H&M leverages the Higg MSI to guide material selection for its Conscious Collection, prioritizing fibers with lower environmental impacts. This data-driven approach has helped the brand reduce its overall carbon footprint and increase the share of recycled materials — supporting both LkSG supply chain due diligence requirements and broader CSRD Scope 3 emissions disclosures.

Read about H&M Group’s Higg Initiative

How to Get Started With the Higg Index

1. Join Cascale:
   Membership provides access to the full suite of Higg tools, training, and support resources designed to help teams meet both industry and regulatory standards.
2. Map Your Value Chain:
   Identify which Higg modules are most relevant to your operations (e.g., FEM for factories, BRM for corporate teams, FSLM for labor due diligence under LkSG and CSDDD).
3. Collect Data:
   Gather the necessary data from your facilities, suppliers, and internal teams using structured digital forms that standardize responses across your supply network.
4. Complete Assessments:
   Fill out the relevant Higg modules, either as a self-assessment or with third-party verification. Third-party verification is increasingly recommended to satisfy CSRD and CSDDD disclosure expectations.
5. Analyze Results:
   Use the dashboards and reports to identify strengths, weaknesses, and priorities for improvement — and to document risk mitigation actions required under CSDDD.
6. Take Action:
   Develop and implement corrective action plans to address key issues and track progress over time, creating the audit trail that due diligence regulations require.
7. Communicate Transparently:
   Share your verified results with stakeholders to build trust and demonstrate leadership — and to satisfy the public disclosure requirements of CSRD and national due diligence laws like LkSG.

The Solution to Collecting Higg Index Data

For many organizations, the hardest part of adopting the Higg Index isn’t the assessment itself — it’s collecting, organizing, and verifying accurate data across complex, often global supply chains. Manual processes, inconsistent formats, and varied reporting capabilities across facilities slow progress and undermine data quality. This challenge is amplified when companies must simultaneously satisfy Higg assessment requirements alongside CSDDD due diligence documentation, CSRD reporting cycles, and LkSG compliance evidence.

There are software solutions available that simplify and structure Higg-aligned data collection from the start. These tools help organizations:

• Deploy customizable digital forms tailored to specific Higg modules (FEM, FSLM, MSI, etc.), ensuring the right questions are asked and responses are standardized across facilities — regardless of region or size
• Compile and validate data automatically, reducing preparation time, minimizing human error, and ensuring the data integrity that third-party verification and regulatory audits demand
• Offer pre-submission dashboards and reporting to surface insights before uploading to Higg — enabling teams to identify and close compliance gaps proactively
• Integrate corrective action workflows to address performance gaps and monitor follow-up, creating the documented improvement trail required under CSDDD and LkSG due diligence obligations

And because these tools aren’t limited to Higg-specific use, they also support broader supply chain compliance needs — from CSDDD supplier due diligence audits to CSRD Scope 3 data collection, LkSG self-reporting programs, and other checklist-based workflows across the enterprise.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Higg Index used for?

The Higg Index is used by apparel, footwear, and textile companies to measure and benchmark the environmental and social performance of their facilities, materials, and supply chains. It provides standardized, comparable data that supports sustainability improvement programs, investor ESG disclosures, and regulatory compliance under frameworks such as CSDDD, CSRD, and LkSG.

Is the Higg Index mandatory?

The Higg Index itself is not a legal requirement, but participation is increasingly expected by brands, investors, and buyers as part of supply chain due diligence programs. Additionally, the types of data the Higg Index collects — environmental performance, labor conditions, ESG governance — are directly relevant to meeting mandatory disclosure obligations under CSDDD and CSRD in the EU.

How does the Higg Index relate to CSRD and CSDDD?

The Higg Index generates the type of standardized, supply-chain-level sustainability data that CSRD requires companies to disclose and that CSDDD requires companies to collect as part of their due diligence. Companies using Higg assessments are better positioned to satisfy these regulatory requirements because the data is already structured, comparable, and — when verified — defensible to regulators and auditors.

Who administers the Higg Index?

The Higg Index is administered by Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), a global multi-stakeholder nonprofit alliance of brands, retailers, manufacturers, NGOs, and academic institutions working to reduce the environmental and social impacts of the apparel, footwear, and textile industry.

What are the main Higg Index tools?

The five core tools are: the Facility Environmental Module (FEM), the Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM), the Brand & Retail Module (BRM), the Materials Sustainability Index (MSI), and the Product Module (PM). Each addresses a different part of the value chain, enabling comprehensive sustainability measurement from fiber to finished product.