The fashion industry remains at the top of the holy polluters and has no serious tendencies to change its business models and make them more sustainable.
Members of the global movement “Fashion Revolution”, which promotes human and environmental rights, i.e. the goals of sustainable fashion, published a new report called “What drives fashion” where they analyzed the world’s 250 largest fashion brands and ranked them according to the transparency of data regarding their relationship towards climate and energy.
The survey found that the fashion industry is lagging significantly behind climate goals and still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, with 86 percent of companies not having a public goal to phase out coal and 94 percent having no public goal for renewable energy.
Almost a quarter of the world’s largest brands do not disclose any data on the decarbonization of their business, which indicates that solving the climate crisis is not a priority for them.
For 145 brands (58 percent), it is not clear what their progress is in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, less than half (47 percent) of brands disclose that they are committed to science-based emissions reduction goals, while 42 percent of brands disclose their progress toward these goals.
When it comes to the origin of the electricity necessary for production processes, fashion companies are stingy about sharing data. Less than half (43 percent) of brands are transparent about electricity procurement at the operational level, and even fewer (10 percent) at the supply chain level. However, as the factories of major fashion brands are mostly located in countries that rely heavily on fossil fuels, it is clear that renewable energy sources do not have much (if any) share in powering the fashion industry.
Even so-called “sustainable” clothing can still be produced using fossil fuels. The impact of the fashion industry on the climate has mostly been examined through the prism of the materials used in our clothes, rather than through the production processes behind them. While 58 percent of brands disclose targets for using sustainable materials, only a small percentage disclose energy sources in their supply chain, meaning that “sustainable” clothing could still be produced in fossil fuel-powered factories.
According to the latest data, the value of the fashion industry is estimated at over 770 billion dollars, and this ranks it as one of the most prosperous branches of the industry. With the expansion of the fashion industry, the demand for fossil fuels also grows, which indicates that fashion brands would have to urgently turn to renewable energy sources in order to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, according to the “Fashion Revolution” movement. .
Milena Maglovski
Source: energetskiportal.rs
