The fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to the climate and ecological crisis. It is nature intensive, reliant on fossil fuels, polluting throughout its value chain and wasteful to the extreme. It is also predicated on a culture of overproduction and consumption, and facilitated by an underpaid workforce facing discrimination, unsafe working conditions and harassment.1 Reported figures show the industry is responsible for between 2-8% of global carbon emissions, with a recent authoritative report placing it at 4%. The fashion sector touches numerous Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - see Figure 1.1.
For the sake of this strategy, this specifically includes SDG 6, SDG 12, SDG 13, SDG 14 and SDG 15, as well as SDGs 1, 5 and 8. It is thus seen as crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The industry has taken note. The importance of addressing the crisis has been accepted. But it is not yet proving to be enough. A more systemic approach is required to transform the way textiles are designed, produced, consumed, and disposed of, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain.
