Background information
The high-level event “Threads of Change: Systemic Transformation of the Textile Sector” was co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) and held in Brussels on 16 May 2024.
The event highlighted the need for systems change and an accelerated transition towards a more sustainable textile value chain. It brought together policymakers, industry representatives, civil society, youth and academics to discuss a systems-level approach touching upon new business models and more equitable power dynamics in global value chains, the need to shift patterns of overconsumption and to reduce overproduction, to replace environmentally harmful materials and hazardous chemicals in production processes, to reduce the sector’s overall resource use and emissions, pollution and waste, to encourage traceability and accountability and to ensure sustainable livelihoods, decent work and fair wages. Different stakeholders assembled in the context of the UNEA resolutions and EU policy developments to address priorities and needs of the sector and policy solutions to leverage it to contribute to climate, nature and zero pollution goals and sustainable resource management.
Takeaways and next steps
- Textiles is an important sector that could serve as a model for other sectors too, highlighting the interconnected challenges that the greening of the sector could tackle; it also represents an enormous opportunity for businesses to strengthen their competitiveness, countries to strengthen their economies, and to collectively achieve the fast-approaching deadline of the 2030 Agenda.
- The event highlighted the many political opportunities that the textile sector can bring, including on the global trade agenda, circular economy, and pollution prevention. It also highlighted the need for policy coordination across producing and consuming countries in acting on these opportunities. Those findings feed directly into the UNEP-facilitated Global Policy Dialogue on Textiles.
- EU policies have far-reaching implications on the work of non-EU partners, making it crucial that a just transition that incorporates environmental and social goals be considered at every step of policymaking, and that a regulatory approach is strengthened when combined with coherent evidence-based implementation based on life cycle analysis, enabling innovative sustainable business models, and providing supports for their scaling and success.
- Youth, as citizens and consumers, and as future workers and leaders have a key role in the design of a circular sector. Based on the Youth Forum’s discussions, youth leaders from the event created a Youth Manifesto to outline the needs, priorities, and ambitions for a youth-led circularity transition for the textile sector.
Disclaimer: This report provides key messages derived from the discussions held at the event. It has been prepared by the European Environment Bureau and may not reflect the views or positions of UNEP and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Why textiles matter
Every year, the textiles sector emits 2-8% of the world’s greenhouse gases, uses the equivalent of 86 million Olympic-sized swimming pools of natural water resources, and is responsible for 9% of microplastic pollution in oceans. While the sector creates livelihoods and opportunities for millions of workers, generating US$1.5 trillion in revenue, and provides products essential to human wellbeing, it struggles to address its impacts on the environment, vulnerable workers – often women – and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). UNEP has therefore identified textiles as a high-impact sector, not only due to its significant environmental and social impacts but because it exemplifies challenges for many sectors on supply chain visibility, overconsumption and overproduction, and circularity.
The UNEP Textile Initiative provides strategic leadership and encourages collaboration across the sector to accelerate a just transition towards a sustainable and circular textile value chain. UNEP's report on sustainability and circularity in the textile value chain – a global roadmap provides actionable steps for stakeholders to achieve priorities such as eliminating hazardous chemicals, ending overproduction and overconsumption and promoting circular business models. UNEP facilitates the Global Policy Dialogue on Textiles which governments called for alongside the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6). UNEP also supports the functioning of GACERE, the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency, an alliance of governments working together on and advocate for a global just circular economy transition and more sustainable management of natural resources at the political level and in multilateral fora.
The European Union is one of the leaders on sustainable textile policies and legislation, the implementation of which will involve production countries across the value chain, particularly developing countries. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles calls for all textile products sold in the EU market to be designed, produced, used and repurposed to be circular by 2030.
“Cheap and disposable clothing...is a clear driver of the triple planetary crisis (and) adopting circular models is the best way to end overconsumption and overproduction, to reduce hazardous chemical use and ensure sustainable and durable clothing is accessible and affordable for everyone. The sector provides livelihoods for women, vulnerable workers and SMEs, and they must be supported when other countries’ policies impact them. Given the sector’s complexity, there is a need for an unprecedented level of policy coherence and coordination across countries and between stakeholders.”
Inger ANDERSEN, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme, in her video message
“The global textile industry operates with unequal rules and an unfair distribution of income in the global value chain, resulting in significant environmental degradation and social injustices. What we need is nothing short of a paradigm shift towards a circular and just textile economy. This is not a question of choosing between the economy and the environment. Rather, it is about fostering an economy that is resilient, equitable and in harmony with both people and the planet, where no one is left behind.”
Minister Zakia KHATTABI, Belgian Federal Minister of Climate, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal, in her video message
Panel Discussion
The panel featured representatives of countries and industry, including SMEs and invited them to reflect on the priorities and needs that policies at European Union and the global level can address. Participants looked at the impacts of the production of raw materials for textiles and garments, and how to shift patterns away from unsustainable consumption, while ensuring livelihoods of those involved throughout the global value chain are considered.
Key messages
- Global coordination and multi-stakeholder collaboration is key to transform the textiles sector, and towards a global circular economy. The example of India was raised, including its work aligning its textile policies with its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs under the Paris Agreement, and in its membership of the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency (GACERE).
The Global Resource Outlook calls for global and national resource use pathways, which is mirrored by different stakeholders in the EU calling for binding and overarching material footprint reduction targets with sector-specific targets for high consumption sectors such as textiles.
- Regulation in large consumer markets such as the EU is an important driver of change. Regulators can play an important role in increasing ambitions and developing innovative policies.
- New EU policies which are likely to impact the global textile sector include the recently-adopted Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation which will regulate, amongst others, reusability, durability and recyclability, and the upcoming Green Claims Directive which will impose stronger rules for labelling to ensure environmental claims and labels are trustworthy.
- On waste, a number of policies have been introduced or are planned, such as a ban on the destruction of new textiles, introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles through the Waste Framework Directive.
- The trade of used textiles remains a challenge due to the unsustainable consumption and production patterns, exacerbated by the rise of the fast fashion model.
There is high demand for used textiles in many developing and least developed countries, where buying new clothes is not an affordable model. However, economic, environmental and social impact of exports need to be assessed and addressed to alleviate their negative effects in receiving countries.
- New EU regulation is of direct interest to third countries producing fibres and ready-made garments and/or those receiving second-hand textiles. Stakeholders from those countries call on the EU to collaborate with partner countries more closely when developing new legislation, including through a robust assessment of impacts on sustainable development in third countries and meaningful consultations with all relevant stakeholders. European regulation will be more effective if supported by capacity-building measures for producers and by technology transfer.
- While support for SMEs in the EU is already referred to in the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, specific support is needed for small-scale producers along the value chain that may struggle with new norms for traceability and reporting.
- Companies, governments, and especially consumer-facing actors must provide access to transparent, trustworthy, and reliable information about sustainability for consumers to make decisions about products, impacts, and benefits. The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive could help with making traceability requirements obligatory for bigger companies. While harmonisation of standards is not always possible at the global level, coordination is important, such as a ITC and UNECE project on traceability and acceptance of different standards.
- Microplastic shedding, that is, the unintentional release of microplastics from synthetic textiles, requires collective action. Solutions discussed included the replacement of materials and innovative processes such as prewashing of products at the production site with effective filters. Clear legislation and harmonisation are important to ensure a level playing field.
- Despite new policies in place, EU regulation needs to be strengthened further such as on restricting substances of concern in textiles based on health and environmental risks, and the regulation of online platforms based outside of the EU to ensure compliance with European standards.
- Ensuring fair wages and decent work is crucial. Industry leaders can collaborate with civil society initiatives such as the Wage Indicator Foundation while strengthened regulation at European and global level is needed.
- Next to regulation, consumer awareness is critical to change the system. Measures that trigger behavioural change for resource use reduction are needed, including the introduction of policies and initiatives that incentivise sustainable lifestyles and shift consumption patterns. The government of India’s Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative was highlighted as an example of promoting sustainable lifestyle shifts around important areas such as textiles, food, and water use, and partners in Europe were invited to join to scale such behaviour change.
The panel consisted of:
Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Head, UNEP Brussels, Opening remarks
Jana HRČKOVÁ, EU Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Decathlon
Pankaj PHUKAN, First Secretary (Commerce), Embassy of India
Carsten SORENSEN, Deputy Head of Unit – Trade and Private Sector, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), European Commission
John WANTE, Member of the Cabinet of the Belgian Federal Minister of Climate, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal
Moderated by Patrizia HEIDEGGER, Deputy Secretary General, Director for EU Governance, Sustainability and Global Policies, European Environment Bureau
Conclusion from Emmanuelle MAIRE, Head of Unit, Circular Economy, Sustainable Production and Consumption, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Youth Forum on Sustainable Fashion Consumption
The youth forum on sustainable fashion consumption showcased young people’s power as consumers while amplifying their demands for change and for social values to be redefined. It offered insights on how to reshape the current and future fashion industry towards sustainability. Participants delved into policy solutions at a panel featuring youth representatives from the industry, including a former model and responsible fashion expert, a young entrepreneur designer, a marketing specialist, and a material fibres public affairs expert, along with representatives from the European Commission and academia.
Key messages
- Youth have an important role as outspoken agents of change. They can leverage their power to shift the narrative to achieve a circular textile industry.
- The textile sector requires holistic thinking to address the triple planetary crisis and ensure reduced impacts on health, climate, biodiversity, water and raw materials extraction.
- Going beyond eco-design and reparability of clothes, addressing overconsumption and overproduction are key for a systemic transformation of the sector.
- Living wages and fair pay are a key concern for youth representatives.
- Youth representatives called on brands to publish their production volumes to increase transparency and make it easier to compare brands.
- The sector needs new business models to replace fast fashion.
- New policies are needed to help empower consumers, for instance, where they help to make textiles long-lived and recyclable or where they ensure transparent product information, such as through digital product passports. Removingunsubstantiated green claims from the market is also an important part of consumer empowerment.
- Consumers should be able to benefit from legal guarantees when a product has a defect.
- European regulation, including on eco-design, incentivises sustainable production and consumption but does not yet sufficiently disincentivise unsustainable production.
The speakers included:
Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries (video message)
Janyl Moldalieva, Senior Policy Officer, UNEP Brussels
Kiki BOREEL, Dutch Climate Ambassador for the Future
Jana HOŠKOVÁ, Deputy Head of Unit, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), European Commission
Bert KEIRSBLICK, Professor of Law, KU Leuven
Romane MALYSZA, Public Affairs Strategist, Textile Exchange
Quinten SCHAAP, Founding Director, Bakermat
Moderated by Sevim ATKAS, EU Sustainability influencer, Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), European Commission
For further information on the EU-UNEP cooperation, please contact Janyl Moldalieva, zhanyl.moldalieva@un.org and UNEP’s textile work, please contact Bettina Heller: bettina.heller@un.org.
