The fashion industry is responsible for 2-8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and, despite the recent increase in the number of products described as sustainable and promises to reduce emissions, the sector’s environmental footprint is set to increase by 60% by 2030, according to the World Resources Institute.
Greenwashing has been rife in the fashion industry “for a long time”, says Maxine Bédat, Director of the New Standard Institute. It’s only with a change in methodologies and “better data that we’ll be able to see whether, as an industry, we’re making progress or not”.
In 2018 at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, some 30 brands pledged to reduce their emissions by 30 % by 2030, and even achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Commitments made at COP26 last year were even more ambitious, aiming to halve emissions by 2030. But industry representatives present at COP27 last week were forced to admit that this target would be very difficult to achieve.
When will we finally focus on the need to change business models to produce less and better?
