The Higg Index (2017)

The Higg Index is the core driver of the SAC. This groundbreaking suite of self-assessment tools empowers brands, retailers and facilities of all sizes, at every stage in their sustainability journey, to measure their environmental and social and labor impacts and identify areas for improvement. The Higg Index delivers a holistic overview of the sustainability performance of a product or company—a big-picture perspective that is essential for progress to be made.

The Higg Index comprises several easy-to-access, online tools or “modules” designed for members from every segment of the industry. By entering data about their business’ impact areas, SAC members generate standardized performance scores that can be shared with current and future supply chain partners around the world at the click of a button. Scores are anonymized and aggregated, which allows businesses to benchmark their results against the industry and serves as a powerful incentive to strive for greater improvements and raise the sustainability bar.

All SAC members commit to using the Higg Index and to collectively revising and improving it. This ensures that the Index evolves into the most comprehensive, relevant and robust sustainability assessment tool possible—one that propels its users far beyond compliance measures and towards the upper reaches of innovation and impact.

Each Higg Index module is comprised of questions developed by the SAC’s members, stakeholders, and experts, which are regularly reevaluated and updated to address all corporate policies and practices, from foundation-level measures (such as basic compliance) to medium-level to aspirational-level (such as advanced and far-reaching sustainability policies). Higg Index users accrue points for every policy or practice that they follow, and receive the highest number of points for positively answering the highest-level questions. These aspirational questions are based on the best practices currently followed by SAC members, and they act as guideposts that point all Higg Index users towards the most progressive sustainability innovations with the greatest impacts.