Fashion Industry Steps Up Climate Ambition with Renewed Charter
The world’s fashion industry has pledged to bolster its sustainability ambitions by calling on companies to halve their emissions by 2030.
The sector previously had a target of reducing emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 but through the Fashion Charter, it is now urging groups to set targets based on science.
The sector is responsible for 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions – more than shipping and aviation combined – and pressure to find sustainable solutions is mounting.
The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action brings together brands, manufacturers, suppliers, policymakers and consumers to work towards net zero.
At an event at the Cop26 climate summit on Monday, it unveiled new targets that introduce sustainability measures faster in response to the climate crisis.
“We have realised [the charter we launched at Cop24] is not enough and we need to make it stronger, more concrete and call for companies to halve emissions by 2030,” said Niclas Svenningsen, manager of Global Climate Action at UN Climate Change.
It comes at a crucial moment for climate action following the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which referred to a “code red for humanity”.
Further commitments in the updated Charter include sourcing 100 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, sourcing environmentally friendly raw materials and phasing out coal from the supply chain by 2030.
“This is an important milestone for the Fashion Charter, as it increases the ambition level in effort to align the industry with 1.5°C,” said Stefan Seidel of Puma, who is also co-chairman of the Fashion Industry Charter Steering Committee.
“It is a signal that we need to work closely together with our peers, our supply chain, policymakers and consumers to get on the track to net zero.”
Dr Delman Lee, vice chairman of Tel Apparel, has called for a sustainability index to rate companies.
More than 130 companies and 41 supporting organisations have signed the Fashion Charter, including H&M Group, Adidas, Chanel and Nike.
The renewed Charter also calls for creating incentive mechanisms for supplier engagement in decarbonisation, as well as measures to engage policymakers and financial institutions.
“In a time when the climate crisis is accelerating to unprecedented levels, we need the real economy to lead on climate action,” Mr Svenningsen said.
“The strengthened commitments of the Fashion Charter signatories is an excellent example of such leadership.”
