SITOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION

The aim of this research is to put the attention on the importance of sustainability practices inside company's activities and to consumers awareness. Nowadays, sustainability is becoming part of our everyday life due to the urgent call for a change to safeguard planet Earth. We live in a society where people act in wrong ways driven by ideologies of consumerism, and we constantly contribute every day to increase the second most polluting sector: the fashion industry. The world is filling up with rags as well as plastic.

In developed countries, like ours, consumerism and fashion are damaging the entire humanity at social and environmental levels, increasing the phenomenon of fast fashion. To contrast this situation, it is necessary to create a sense of urgency and awareness among the consumers: in this way people can purchase in a more conscious way. Companies and consumers are able to influence each other regarding the urgent adoption of sustainable practices.

Only few consumers are very attentive to the sustainability of the products they buy, for this reason a strong intervention by the sellers is necessary. Moreover, fast fashion brands are risking to damage their image, that is also the reason they are moving to change their production behaviours, bringing attention to sustainability. One of the most striking examples is the famous fast fashion brand H&M, placed in the spotlight for its new green initiatives which seeks to redeem its image. This research analyses how this firm is trying to create the new green identity, modifying its habits at the eyes of stakeholders, through the creation of sustainability report and concrete initiatives in stores. Sustainability report is the main tool that companies can use to spread their commitment in sustainable behaviour. This will be analysed in the third chapter, understanding the fundamental notions for editing, the principles and standards to which references must be made to obtain a consistent report.

There are international standards and guidelines that provide the correct way to build the report. Finally, to support the research of this paper, a poll has been created to know the purchasing's attitude of people, their knowledges regarding sustainability issues, and how the brand H&M is perceived by consumers. In this way, we can understand the actual sustainability approach that consumers have and if the reputation assigned to the brand by consumers reflects the values, the objectives and the actions reported in the brand's sustainability report, recognising if this tool is effective for a fast fashion brand.

Chapter 1- SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The need for sustainable and environmentally friendly economic growth began in the seventies, when society became aware that the traditional model of development will cause the collapse of the Earth's ecosystem in the long term. Over the years, environmental efforts by the international community, including the Paris

Climate Agreement, have concretely demonstrated that the planet's limits are real (Balocco,2021). Climate change and the deterioration of the environment are destroying the ecosystems and this has negative repercussions on development, health and natural resources. The environmental crisis, climate change, rising temperatures are strong and understandable signs of the dramatic impact we are experiencing. These signals should conduct people and companies to reflections and actions with a new sustainable view. The economic development model that characterizes the West countries cannot be sustainable in the medium-long term and it is therefore necessary to identify new strategies in order to think of a long term that also includes respect for the environment (Daly H.E., 2014). The concept of sustainability requires new ways of thinking about the world and new ways of acting in the economic, science, technology, politic areas and even the daily life of individuals, able to create a system of

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

61.1 Sustainability Governance

Never like today, there is a competitive business environment where companies have pressure to improve their sustainability practices reducing footprints and continuing to maximize profit. Sustainability governance helps the company to implement sustainability practices across business, ensure

Responsibility and manage the goals set. Business sustainability processes are not the same for all companies, for this reason governance is defined as the way in which sustainable development is built. From consumers' research is underlined the request to seek additional sustainability education from brands themselves, adopting a more active role in increasing awareness for consumers (Amed et al., 2019).

Corporate Social Responsibility demonstrates corporate awareness, citizenship, and social performance integrated into the business model. The World Business Council for "the ethical behaviour of a company Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defines CSR as towards society". CSR guides the organization toward its mission and support its consumers. It is also an integral component of corporate governance, useful when there is a conflict between the corporate goals of maximizing profits and social goals (Idowu, 2012). In 2001 the European Union spoke first about CSR in one of its

Green books, defining the CSR in terms of voluntary integration of the social and environmental concerns in their commercial operations and in their relations with interested parties. At the beginning, the CSR initiatives were voluntary and defined as self-regulation, but over time, new mandatories and impositions have intervened that have pushed companies towards greater compliance at a social level.

Today there are different organisations and entities that promote and supervise the adoption of CSR in businesses. International Organization of Standardization (ISO)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is defined as the sense of responsibility that a company or any other economic entity demonstrates towards the community and the environment. Source

Bruxelles, 18.7.2001 COM(2001) 366, Promote a European framework for corporate