Towards a net positive textile industry by 2050
See the recording of the event.
Fashion Industry Target Consultation
The Fashion Industry Target Consultation was a multi-stakeholder project led by Global Fashion Agenda and the UN Environment Programme to identify and converge existing industry aligned ambitions to establish a holistic industry route of travel towards a net-positive fashion industry.
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About the Fashion Industry Target Consultation:
Formally launched at COP27 in November 2022, the Fashion Industry Target Consultation was a multi-stakeholder project led by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The aim of the consultation was to identify and converge existing industry aligned ambitions, according to the five priorities of the Fashion CEO Agenda: Respectful & Secure Work Environments, Better Wage Systems, Resource Stewardship, Smart Material Choices and Circular Systems. Moreover, the consultation sought to formulate new ambitions where they are not currently covered such as criteria for purchasing practices and circular design, to establish a route towards a net-positive fashion industry.
Between November 2022 – February 2023, GFA and UNEP invited stakeholders and partners from across the global value chain including brands, retailers, NGOs, manufacturers, data providers, innovators, intergovernmental organisations, policy makers, and more to share their insights on the performance indicators and milestones that the industry must strive to meet, and importantly to gauge what tools and support are needed by these actors to take action.
This consultation will help provide clarity and drive accountability for a range of consistent, measurable, monitored and complete goals, so that the industry is able to understand the current state of progress, the areas that must be focused on to accelerate impact, and the timeframe to do so.
For more information download the Fashion Industry Target Consultation Supportive Document here.
What’s Next?
The consultation’s official survey is now closed. Over 900 industry stakeholders participated in the consultation including brands, NGO’s, producers, manufacturers and more, representing 90 countries globally. Aggregated and anonymised survey findings will be made available after analysis. Sign up for GFA’s newsletter here and UNEP’s newsletter here to stay informed. The final industry ambitions will be presented in the new Fashion CEO Agenda launching at Global Fashion Summit: Boston Edition 2023.
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Regional Workshops
Each region has a different relationship with the textile value chain, and a global set of ambitions and monitoring must incorporate this to ensure that there are no tradeoffs, while also ensuring environmental and social protections. During the consultation period, UNEP, through the Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) initiative and in close collaboration with the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, hosted six regional workshops to collect insights on specific ambitions and their localised impacts, as well as their feasibility and ambition levels required. A key objective of the regional workshops was to ensure that developing country and SME views are reflected in the consultation.
Workshops took place in the following regions:
- Europe and North America
- West Asia
- Africa
- Central and Eastern Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Asia Pacific
Contact us
If you have any questions regarding the consultation, please do not hesitate to contact us. Moreover, we welcome further cooperation with other industry organisations, brands, retailers, investors, solution providers, academia and more. We invite you to share thoughts with us.
Federica Marchionni
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Chief Executive Officer, Global Fashion Agenda
"The industry has come a long way and sustainability has been placed as a strategic priority among most fashion businesses. Despite many brands, retailers and manufacturers taking positive steps, and many supportive policies on the horizon, the current pace of transformation is too slow. We are living in a humanitarian and environmental crisis yet are producing and using more than ever before. Fashion must urgently transform its business model in order to protect our future and the future of generations to come"
Elisa Tonda
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Chief, Resources and Markets Branch, UN Environment Programme
"Incremental and fragmented improvements will not be sufficient to revert the environmental and social impact trends of the sector; a holistic transformation to circularity is necessary and urgent. Delivering a sustainable and circular textile value chain will require a degree of coordination, investment, and business model adaptation that has never been seen before."
FAQ
What is the Fashion Industry Target Consultation?
The aim of the Fashion Industry Target Consultation was to identify and converge existing industry-aligned ambitions in order to provide a clear route of travel toward reaching a net-positive fashion industry. The consultation invited all industry actors to share their insights on the performance indicators and milestones that the industry must strive to meet, and importantly to gauge what tools and support are needed by these actors to take action.
Who is involved?
The Fashion Industry Target Consultation was a multi-stakeholder project led by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Global Fashion Agenda
Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) is a non-profit organisation that fosters industry collaboration on sustainability in fashion to accelerate impact. With the vision of a net positive fashion industry, it drives action by mobilising, inspiring, and educating all stakeholders. The organisation has been leading the movement since 2009 and presents the renowned international forum on sustainability in fashion, Global Fashion Summit, the Innovation Forum, thought leadership publications including The GFA Monitor, Fashion CEO Agenda and Fashion on Climate, and impact programmes including
the Circular Fashion Partnership.
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a global authority that sets the environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Since its inception in 1972, UNEP has employed several cross-sectoral subprogrammes, specifically its work within textiles takes form through the provision of strategic leadership and encouraging sector-wide collaboration to accelerate a just transition towards a sustainable and circular textile value chain, while supporting sound management of
chemicals.
UNEP’s report Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain: Global Stocktaking identified the environmental and socio-economic hotspots, and mapped initiatives working to address those. Its upcoming roadmap report defines a common agenda of transformation for all value chain actors.
Who was the audience for the target consultation?
The consultation invited stakeholders and partners from across the global value chain including brands, retailers, NGOs, producers, manufacturers, data providers, innovators, intergovernmental organisations, policy makers, financing institutions, and more to participate in the Fashion Industry Target Consultation. The consultation included voices of all stakeholders across the value chain, from all regions ensuring that trade-offs were avoided or mitigated, and that the ambitions will be holistic, inclusive, and effective.
What was the duration of the consultation?
The consultation closed in February 2023. The aligned targets will be unveiled in the 2023 publication of GFA’s Fashion CEO Agenda at Global Fashion Summit: International Edition 2023.
How do the ambitions relate to existing goals and commitments?
In developing the draft ambitions for consultation we built upon existing frameworks and targets, and consulted with the organisations behind those. Where targets existed, those are mentioned, where no targets existed yet we proposed new ones. It is our imperative to converge what is already established in the industry and create a holistic and aligned route of travel encompassing both social and environmental sustainability. The initial development of the ambitions released for consultation was done in conversation with leading subject expert initiatives, as well as in reference to existing frameworks including the Science Based Targets Network, The Fashion Pact, the Common Framework for Responsible Purchasing Practices.
How is the framework structured?
The Fashion Industry Target Consultation follows Global Fashion Agenda’s Fashion CEO Agenda framework which outlines five priorities that businesses should focus on in order to secure prosperity for people and communities while working within environmental boundaries. These priorities include:
- Respectful and Secure Work Environments
- Better Wage Systems
- Resource Stewardship
- Smart Material Choices
- Circular Systems
The GFA Monitor acts as an accompanying tool to support actors within fashion’s value chain with implementing action within the outlined priority areas, presenting proven solutions, tools, best practices, case studies and expert insights.
The Fashion Industry Target Consultation also aligns with UNEP’s upcoming report, Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain: A global roadmap which sets out the priorities and actions all key stakeholders can take towards this transformation.
The five priority areas, and set of targets underneath them, should be viewed as a complete and complementary set – they are interconnected and designed to reinforce each other. The intention is for the textile industry to meet all targets, providing a holistic route of travel.
How will the industry be kept accountable to the framework?
These ambitions are intended to drive industry-wide progress across a holistic priority framework. The aim is to catalyse a transition from planning to taking action by providing a common destination and point of reference for different stakeholder groups to facilitate industry-wide change.
Going forward, how will industry progress be measured against the framework?
The ambitions are intended to be at industry level and align the industry around a joint vision. They recognise and build on existing work in certain impact areas and individual company targets; over time the objective is to be able to measure and monitor industry-wide progress against evidence-based ambitions. Annually industry-wide progress achieved against the identified ambitions will be presented through the GFA Monitor starting Q4 2023, which will act as an annual gauge of the fashion industry.
What is a net-positive fashion industry?
A net-positive industry is one that gives back more to the natural world, people and societies and the economy than it takes out. The ambitions defined by the consultation will not be directly accountable for a net-positive industry, but help to define the pathway towards it by encouraging ambitious sustainability strategies that reduce harm, but also deliver positive outcomes for the environment and societies.
