Fashion and clothing have complex supply chains that make it difficult to account for all the emissions that are created due to production. Transportation and disposal of clothing is also factored into the emissions cost of the industry.
Then there is also the frenetic pace of change that the industry goes through every season where consumers are pushed into buying the latest trendy items and discarding the old ones.
The fashion industry reportedly contributes 8 percent of all greenhouse emissions and 20 percent of water waste. Along with this, around a third of all microplastics come from synthetic clothing, even those within our own bodies.
Simon Stiell, a United Nations Climate Change Executive, recently stated that this pattern needs to change on an urgent basis. “The fashion industry needs to move ‘further and faster’ to drive down emissions and prove the sector is serious about shifting from cosmetic to systemic change,” he noted.
To hold fashion brands accountable and transform the entire ecosystem of collaboration, an initiative called The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action was started. It takes care of the entire supply chain from the farmers all the way to the textile machinery producers. Many brands under the Charter, including Chanel, Nike, H&M and Puma have disclosed their climate-related information and filed regular reports.
“After five years, the fashion industry simply isn’t at the point where we can say that it is truly changing and implementation is truly happening,” says Stiell. “Less than half of active signatories are compliant with setting climate targets needed to limit global heating to 1.5°C. By and large, their extensive supply chains aren’t aligned with Charter goals either. This is the reality,” he further added.
Even though on paper, 45 percent of the companies under the Charter seem to be complying with the Paris climate target of 1.5°C, reportedly, emissions from the fashion sector remain high.
Emissions from this sector alone are equivalent to what is observed from economies like Germany, France and the UK. “Clearly this sector needs to move further and faster. It needs to accelerate the pace of implementation of this Charter and extend its reach. Emissions need to go down as rapidly as possible.” said Steill.
