Our mission at Global Fashion Agenda is to mobilise and guide the fashion industry to take bold and urgent action on sustainability. The past year challenged global structures, especially regarding necessary rapid environmental progress and the lack of secure social protection schemes: COVID-19 hit the industry unprecedently, demanding real-time actions and long-term sight. Industry players had to shift focus on job recreation and the fair distribution of risks and profits along the value chain. In addition, long-standing systemic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement called for racial equity and dignity for marginalised and black communities.If we fail to take coordinated action on the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, we can expect to see increasingly common crises such as heatwaves or rising sea levels damage complex ecosystems that are vital to our future.
These systemic issues are apparent in the reality of climate change, exemplifying an intersectional environ-mental crisis that is set to produce socioeconomic impacts over the coming years, foremost affecting marginalised communities and people of colour. Fashion leaders are urged to focus their efforts on diversity, equity and inclusivity along the value chain to positively contribute to a just society and communities globally.When picturing a post-pandemic fashion industry, it is not built from scratch but inspired by existing tools and technologies that will move from ideation to reality and from pilots to wide-scale adoption.
Some shifts such as production to demand, increased product lifetime values, a less season-dependent design and product flow, textile-to-textile recycling or resale will be accelerated, while long-known best practices such as collaborative partnerships between all stakeholders in the value chain may become building blocks of business operations. Placing value-driven practices at the core of business will enhance capabilities for change management, allowing headway in the transformation of potential financial, social and environmental risks into untapped business opportunities and points of engagement with suppliers, customers and the investment community.Fashion’s leaders have to seize the opportunity to re-evaluate the lexicon of fashion. By rethinking and rebuilding, we maybe able to devise a new approach to fashion that is progressive, purposeful and people-centred, one that restores andrecovers from perturbation, creates meaningful, new jobs and ultimately increases resilience to mitigate the impact of crises in the future.Together, we must work towards a thriving industry that creates prosperity for all people and communities by working within planetary boundaries, reversing its impact on climate change and protecting biodiversity. With theFashionCEO Agenda, we call on fashion brands and retailers as well as industry players to pave the way to a just and resilient future
Since the Industrial Revolution, GHG emissions have contributed to atmospheric warming that has lifted global temperatures by around 1.1 degrees, with significant regional variations. The warming has precipitated more frequent and severe risks, including flooding, fires, droughts and storms, leading to socioeconomic impacts on, e.g. liveability and workability, food systems and natural capital. With temperatures set to continue their upward trajectory, it is likely these adverse impacts will become more severe over the coming years.
The good news for the fashion industry is that many of the required actions can be delivered at
a moderate cost. Around 90% of the accelerated abatement can be delivered below a cost of around USD50 per tonne of GHG emissions. Around 55% of the actions required will lead to net cost savings on an industrywide basis. The remaining actions will require incentivisation in the form of consumer demand or regulations to deliver abatement. Additionally, around 60% of the abatement will require upfront capital, where brands and retailers will need to support and collaborate with value chain players to invest for the long-term benefit of society and the environment.
The scale of change required implies a need for bold commitments. Stakeholders throughout the value chain should be willing to make bold commitments, followed by equally bold actions, transparency, collaboration and joint investment. Brands and suppliers need to step up engagement with policy makers, support the rollout of renewable energy and drive end-of-use collections for recycling.
Beyond 2030, the challenge becomes even greater. To stay on the 1.5-degree pathway, the industry needs to go beyond this vision of accelerated abatement to fundamentally redefine business models and current imperatives of economic growth and rising consumerism. For a prosperous future and a habitable earth, the industry’s ingenuity and creative spirit will be required to decouple value creation from volume growth and to move from commitments to actions.
At GFA, we are all for making it happen and for shaping the agendas of all stakeholders. In fact, the aspiration to shape the course of change in the fashion industry is the reason GFA and this report exist. Imagine a fashion industry that is not only exciting and bountiful, but sustainable and inclusive as well. Imagine fair pay and secure work environments for everybody who works in fashion. Imagine a substantial reduction of resource consumption and emissions. Imagine innovative new business models that decouple growth from production and allow for self-expression outside of garment ownership. In short, imagine a fashion industry that has a positive impact on everyone and everything it touches.
Just imagination? On the contrary, we believe that the imagination is only the beginning of a possible reality if we dare to make new pathways and bear the challenges along the way. The fashion industry has the power to inspire top talent, engage fashion lovers, attract potent investors, and win the support of communities worldwide. It is a net-positive fashion industry that will continue to prosper despite disruptive forces that range from digitisation and automation to the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical tensions.
The fashion industry is already advancing towards a more sustainable, more inclusive, and more resilient future, but the current efforts will not suffice to align the industry with the target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals laid out by the United Nations. But it’s not too late. It’s time for bold commitments, decisive actions, and rigorous follow-through.
As fashion leaders, you have the power to shape the course of change. You have the power to bring about a net-positive fashion industry that puts back more into society, the environment, and the global economy than it takes out. This report features the progress the industry has made so far. Many of the solutions and tools that fashion needs to improve already exist. It’s time to use them ambitiously. Now, as policies to promote a sustainable fashion industry emerge, it’s more essential than ever to take bold and urgent action. Think of this report as your companion on your journey. Dear fashion leaders, please join forces with your peers to create a meaningful change for a prosperous fashion industry. Indeed, if you do, everyone wins.
Federica Marchionni, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda
