SHEIN has published our annual Sustainability and Social Impact Report for 2024, detailing our progress made on relevant environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics during the year.
At SHEIN, we believe sustainability is integral to our long-term business resilience. We remain focused on driving progress guided by our evoluSHEIN roadmap, which provides a comprehensive strategy for driving our mission across three strategic pillars: Equitable Empowerment (People), Collective Resilience (Planet), and Waste-Less Innovation (Process).
We conducted a double materiality assessment in 2024 to identify issues that our stakeholders considered to have the most significant impact on our financial performance, as well as those our operations have on the planet and the communities we serve. The assessment serves as a strategic compass to guide our sustainability and social impact initiatives.
Elevating Oversight and Transparency
We have taken steps to strengthen oversight and accountability of our ESG work. Last year, we established an External ESG Advisory Board (EEAB), a group of independent experts specialising in areas relevant to SHEIN’s business and operations, who provide strategic guidance and feedback on our ESG initiatives, policies, and practices. We also established the SHEIN Foundation, consolidating our philanthropic efforts under a single formalised structure.
Progress Guided by our evoluSHEIN Roadmap
We continued to build on our progress in 2024 across all three pillars of our evoluSHEIN roadmap. Key highlights include:
PEOPLE
- Continued robust governance of third-party supplier network: We conducted 4,288 on-site audits on China-based suppliers and subcontractors, covering around 95% of SHEIN-branded products by procurement value. Audit results improved, with A/B grades rising to 47% (up from 29% in 2023) and D/E grades dropping to 8% (down from 20% in 2023).
- Deepened empowerment of suppliers and their communities: As at the end of 2024, we invested over US$33 million in our Supplier Community Empowerment Program (SCEP) to support supplier training, upskilling, and facility upgrades. This includes improvements at 203 factories and US$648,000 in grants to 236 worker families through the SHEIN Spotlight programme.
- Strengthened handling and resolution of supply chain grievance complaints: 34 grievance cases were raised by suppliers and their workers through SHEIN’s established channels in 2024, the majority of which arose from disputes over wages and compensation. All grievances filed were investigated and resolved within stipulated timelines.
- Continued empowerment of SHEIN’s ecosystem partners: As of end-2024, we have partnered with more than 5,300 artists and designers under our SHEIN X programme and paid out over US$12 million in commissions since 2021. In 2024, we donated over US$6.4 million to local organisations promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality, supporting the development of our youth, and alleviating poverty.
PLANET
- Advancement of our decarbonisation commitments: In 2024, we secured approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for our near-term science-based emissions reduction targets. Additionally, our net-zero target was approved by the SBTi in May 2025. With the support of sustainability consultancy Anthesis Group, we have developed a decarbonisation roadmap to guide our progress toward meeting our near- and long-term emissions reduction targets.
- Deployed key emissions reduction initiatives: Guided by our decarbonisation roadmap, we took steps to reduce our carbon emissions in 2024. This includes initiatives to increase our use of renewable energy, which accounted for 76% of our electricity use, up from 72% in 2023, as well as to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across our supply chain. We also implemented transport and logistics initiatives that contributed to an estimated reduction of 668,800 metric tons of CO₂e. Overall, we achieved emissions reductions of 884,303 metric tons of CO₂e across Scopes 1 to 3 in 2024, representing a 58% improvement from the 556,664 metric tons of CO₂e emissions reductions achieved in 2023.
PROCESS
- Enhanced manufacturing efficiency through innovation: In 2024, about 51% of our directly sourced printed fabrics were produced using Digital Thermal Transfer Printing and Cool Transfer Denim Printing processes, saving 550,000 cubic metres of water. SHEIN’s Centre of Innovation for Garment Manufacturing (CIGM) also developed more than 60 new tools for suppliers, boosting average productivity gains by over 40%.
- Increased usage of high-quality deadstock materials: In 2024, we increased our use of high-quality deadstock materials by around 40% through our partnership with Aloqia, reaching a total of 28,058 metres. This is estimated to have saved the equivalent of over 200,000 cubic metres of water, more than 4,000 kg of chemicals, and over 42 metric tons of CO₂e that would otherwise have been generated in 2024 if equivalent materials had been newly produced.
- Scaling up use of textile-to-textile recycled polyester: In 2024, 12.1% of the recycled polyester directly sourced for SHEIN-branded products came from textile-to-textile recycling. We also advanced our multi-year research partnership with Donghua University in China, aimed at developing commercially scalable recycled polyester fibre production, with improved recycling technologies to enhance fibre quality and cost efficiency. Our work in 2024 has laid the foundation for us to scale the technology from lab to commercial production in 2025 through collaborations with selected fibre manufacturers.
- Continued to offer initiatives for our customers to engage in circular practices: In 2024, we expanded SHEIN Exchange, our peer-to-peer resale platform, to France, Germany, and the UK, in addition to the US. The platform saw strong engagement, with 6.78 million new users and over 297,000 pre-owned items listed by more than 148,000 unique sellers.
More details on our ESG goals, progress, and performance metrics are available in our 2024 Sustainability and Social Impact Report.
