The retailer said its involvement will be part of a commitment “to ensuring all key raw materials in our own-brand products will be from sustainable or recycled sources by 2025”. For its part of the support, John Lewis is funding the training of 420 herders in Inner Mongolia, on the global standard. Training will be provided by a leading animal welfare NGO, the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare (ICCAW), together with experts from a local agricultural university. 

In the first year, the programme will focus on animal welfare, and then it will be expanded to cover the protection of biodiversity and how to secure herder livelihoods in the long term.  Marija Rompani, partner and director of Ethics and Sustainability for the John Lewis Partnership said: �…