Climate Week NYC: GFA Assembly

Global Fashion Agenda is pleased to announce the GFA Assembly at Climate Week NYC, hosted at Nike NYHQ during the morning of Wednesday 25 September 2024.

Explore the selection of action-oriented roundtable meetings with fashion executives covering key sustainability topics, including circularity, policy, regenerative agriculture and more. Roundtables will be followed by a networking lunch.

Programme

GFA Assembly is invitation-only and attendees must be registered in advance to attend. For more information get in touch via assembly@globalfashionagenda.com.

 

Opening Remarks

Global Fashion Agenda will commence the GFA Assembly with opening remarks.

Stitching compliance: EU´s Legislation Impact on US Textiles and Apparel

The global textiles industry is experiencing an unprecedented wave of legislation, significantly influenced by leaders such as Ursula von der Leyen who will remain as President of the European Commission for the period 2024-2029 following her reelection. Legislation comes from the EU but interacts across jurisdictions, leading to extraterritorial effects which are impacting third-party member states.

The objective of this Roundtable is to shed light on how legislation coming from the EU impacts US textiles and apparel companies.

Circular Systems for Footwear

In collaboration with Nike

 

In 2024, the global footwear market is estimated to produce 24 billion pairs of shoes – equating to nearly 66 million pairs of shoes each day – with revenue of $412.9 billion. Establishing circular systems for the footwear industry is critical to reducing the use of virgin resources and mitigating impacts on climate. While multiple actors are currently driving potential solutions to address key barriers to progress, without stronger coordination, the industry is at risk of duplicating efforts and ultimately bypassing meaningful action.

The objective of the Roundtable (part of an ongoing series), is to review current efforts to promote circularity within the footwear industry, discuss interdependencies and systems gaps, and identify potential solutions for driving collective action at scale.

Strengthening Corporate Accountability to Scale Regenerative Agriculture

In collaboration with

Agriculture and land use change are responsible for about a third of global GHG emissions. Nearly 90% of global deforestation is driven by agricultural expansion, and around 80% of the world’s poor rely largely on agricultural work to make a living. Therefore, the agricultural sector is crucial to meeting global sustainability targets, and businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their progress and impact on climate, nature, and equitable livelihoods.

This closed-door, executive-level roundtable meeting hosted by Global Fashion Agenda in collaboration with WBCSD, OP2B and Textile Exchange will explore the benefits of regenerative agriculture for the fashion industry and reflect on the challenges and opportunities of strengthening corporate accountability to scale these approaches.

Indigenous Partnership Principles for the Fashion, Apparel and Textile Industry

In collaboration with
       

Nature provides the raw materials for much of the world’s clothing. Yet, the fashion industry’s impact on people as artisans that sustain heritage craft is often underestimated. As fashion increasingly recognizes the importance of nature and biodiversity within its supply chain, the sector needs to engage Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IP&LCs). Only 5% of surveyed fashion and textile companies said they are consulting with IP&LCs as part of their sustainability strategies.

To address this gap, the Indigenous Partnership Principles for Fashion, Apparel and Textile Industries (launched at Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2024) were developed in partnership between Conservation International and Textile Exchange with direct input and leadership from IP&LCs. Building on case studies and ongoing dialogues, this Roundtable will discuss next steps towards operationalizing these principles.

Networking Lunch

After the Roundtables, attendees are invited to join a networking lunch.