Dear Stakeholders,
Global issues such as climate crisis, increasing pressure on natural resources and changing consumer habits bring forward the need for a global transformation focused on sustainability. We witnessed the effects of the climate crisis on every area of our lives in the last year. Extreme flood and fail disasters in our country, wildfires in the Amazon rainforest and high temperatures and drought in Europe can be enlisted among them. As per agricultural activities, climate change continues interrupting the current agricultural activities by manifesting itself through extreme weather conditions such as heavy rains. According to the researches, in the event that the global warming is above 1,5°C than the preindustrial level, we will face with increasing forest fires and floods, decreasing water resources and consequently shrinkage of arable lands. As a sector using agricultural raw materials, we should be a part of the solutions of these cultural issues. Currently, communities hold not only public institutions, but also profit-oriented companies more responsible for their operations and demand that they invest in a sustainable future. Denim industry, undoubtedly, is in a transformation under the impact of these global trends.
As Calik Denim, one of the leading premium denim manufacturers in the world, we are aware that the industry is facing global environmental and social changes and the associated risks. Accordingly, we have redefined our approach to sustainability from a strategic point of view to adapt to such changing circumstances and pioneer sustainability within the industry. We aim to turn such risks into opportunities, manage the impact of denim on life, create positive value for and deliver benefits to our stakeholders. Therefore, we have defined our sustainability strategy as Passion for Denim Passion for Life focusing on the purpose of making a positive impact for a better life. We have designed smart targets, one of the key steps in implementing our sustainability strategy in harmony with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are the fundamentals for forming a sustainable business model. We share our progress related to the targets we set in 2019 based on 2016 on a regular basis via our Sustainability Report. 2025 Targets focus on Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Raw Material Procurement, Innovation and Thought Leadership, Internal and External Stakeholder Rights. We believe that contributing to SDGs and being a part of the big picture is the direction that all companies must turn towards.
As a denim company taking its place among 200 companies with the highest export volume in Turkey, we aim to continue strengthening our position in the global arena with our activities in the following period.
Today, many actors collaborate to mitigate the effects of global climate change on the agriculture and food sector in the world. As Calik Holding, we have joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) this year in line with our focus on multi-stakeholder collaborations in addition to the strategy works. We maintain many collaborations and projects so as to improve business processes, to make more efficient production and contribute to the academy. We are collaborating with different organizations, including especially universities both in Turkey and abroad, in R&D area. We have allocated approximately 2% of our revenue to R&D. The sustainable and innovative technologies that we develop decrease the consumption of water, chemicals and energy in the production processes while producing positive effects on the other elements of the value chain. Thanks to Denethic concept, one of the new leading technologies of the sector, we eliminate the need for washing jeans after sewing by providing fabrics with a washed look for our customers. On the other hand, we are focusing on efficiency and renewable energy and energy management for the purposes of combating with climate change and improving our performance in water, chemical and waste management through R&D practices. Accordingly, we have allocated 4.1 million TRY to environmental spending and investments.
As a denim company taking its place among 200 companies with the highest export volume in Turkey, we aim to continue strengthening our position in the global arena with our activities in the following period. We will focus our efforts on contributing to the solution of the social and environmental issues with a shared value approach beyond creating economic value. By sharing 2019 Sustainability Report with you, I would like to thank all of our stakeholders, primarily our valuable colleagues, who contribute to our journey of Passion for Denim Passion for Life.
Respectfully,
Fatih Doğan CEO
