H&M stops buying leather from Brazil over Amazon fires

The move may be more about the message than the business impact, as H&M sources the vast majority of its leather from Europe's from the meat industry, with only a small part from Brazil. The company declined to provide figures.

In 2017, less than 1 percent of H&M's range of clothes was made of leather and it used synthetic leather products five times as much as real leather. The group has already been moving away from using materials derived from animals.

Last week, VF Corp, the owner of Timberland, Vans and several other shoe and clothing brands said it also stopped buying leather from Brazil because of the rainforest fires.

Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, VF Corp said it won't purchase leather and hide from Brazilian suppliers until it's assured that the materials "do not contribute to environmental harm in the country." VF said 5 percent of the leather it purchases for its products comes from Brazil.

The current fires in the Amazon are largely attributed to people clearing the forest for cattle ranching and crops. About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil.