Textile Exchange’s Liesl Truscott joins The Biodiversity Consultancy to move fashion forward

Liesl Truscott, former Director of Industry Accountability & Insights at Textile Exchange, has this week joined The Biodiversity Consultancy as Strategic Director, Nature Strategies.

Liesl’s appointment will deepen The Biodiversity Consultancy’s increasing involvement in the fashion and textiles sector, which so far has included developing the ground-breaking Biodiversity Benchmark with Textile Exchange, partnering with The Fashion Pact and Watch and Jewellery Initiative 2030 on delivery of the biodiversity pillar of their programmes and working with a diverse range of well-known brands in the sector, including Burberry and H&M.

Welcoming Liesl, The Biodiversity Consultancy’s Chief Executive Dr Helen Temple said:

“We are delighted that Liesl has chosen to join our fast-growing team. We were all impressed by her obvious passion for biodiversity and her many achievements at Textile Exchange, where we enjoyed collaborating with her.

Her appointment will help us strengthen our ability to help the fashion and textiles sector transform its relationships with nature at a time when the pace of change is accelerating. The recent COP15 agreed a set of new global goals for biodiversity and made an explicit call for business to contribute towards these, and in the last few months we have seen new EU deforestation regulations passed, plus fresh guidance from a range of bodies.

Companies understand they need to act. To succeed, they will need to collaborate, innovate, learn and scale transformational actions through their supply chains. Liesl will be a huge asset to us as we work to support their efforts.”

The move will facilitate the continued collaboration between The Biodiversity Consultancy and Textile Exchange. The partnership between the two organisations was instrumental in developing the first (and only) industry-specific Biodiversity Benchmark, since adopted by more than 170 companies, and growing. The Benchmark’s baseline results were published in 2021 and its second report is expected imminently.

Of her move, Liesl said:

“The Biodiversity Consultancy is a 50+ strong team with incredible depth and expertise in ecology, nature and science and was the go-to-expert on biodiversity for me at Textile Exchange. I’m looking forward to continuing to work hand-in-hand with my former colleagues.

“I see an exciting opportunity to build on the ‘vertical’, supply chain, commodity-centric approaches taken so far and extend them into a ‘horizontal’, landscape context. We need to explore approaches that drive collective action across different business sectors and communities that share the same geographical locality, to bring ecosystems, habitats and wildlife corridors into corporate strategic planning. There is so much to do here, and I think it connects us to a long-term regenerative and resilient vision that is truly led by local stakeholders and rights holders. This is the way we will recover and repair our relations with the Earth, and each other.”

The Biodiversity Consultancy and Textile Exchange have been working in partnership since 2019, with The Biodiversity Consultancy providing biodiversity support across many activities, including the Responsible Wool, Mohair and Alpaca Standards and Leather Impact Accelerator, as well co-developing the Biodiversity Benchmark.

 Ashley Gill, Chief Strategy Officer at the Textile Exchange said:

“Over the years, Liesl has been instrumental in helping to lay the foundations for many of our programs, including the farm engagement, roundtables, and the Materials Benchmark. She will be greatly missed, however we’re excited that she is moving into such a great organisation where she can focus on her passion for biodiversity. Just as climate and nature go hand in hand, we are certain that Textile Exchange and The Biodiversity Consultancy will keep collaborating, and we look forward to continuing to learn from her in her new role.”