New and upcoming sector regulations and global ESG requirements are also increasing pressure in an endeavour to hold the industry to greater account for its impacts. In early 2023, the EU passed the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) under the EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles requiring over 50,0005 qualifying organisations and SMEs, including fashion companies, to report ESG metrics based on defined standards, ultimately reshaping the manufacture, sale and disposal of clothing. This was quickly followed by the EU’s landmark Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which marks an inflection point towards a more aggressive regulatory approach to corporate responsibility as regards human rights and environmental violations in the supply chain.  

The timeframe for averting the worst climate impacts is rapidly narrowing. Solutions must be deployed and put into action fast. Yet, true success lies not only in safeguarding our planet but also in nurturing the well-being and livelihoods of all its people and inhabitants through this essential transformation. Currently, significant gaps persist between ambition and concrete action in addressing social and environmental priorities. When it comes to the social agenda, recent progress has been measured in buyers’ purchasing practices, the adoption of converged assessments and a reduction in non-compliance in the area of occupational health and safety. Yet several factors, not least the current global economic crisis and heightened price competition at supplier level, have widened the wage gap between average minimum and living wage payments across key production countries.  

On the climate front, IPCC’s latest report gave a stark final warning to the world to limit global temperature increases in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement and transition to ‘net-zero’ or ‘near-zero’ emissions. Unless significant changes are made to the way we source and consume energy, especially in production regions, the industry will fall short of the decarbonisation targets necessary to align with the 1.5°C pathway. In parallel, to meet climate goals, economic development needs to be decoupled from consumption of finite resources. We need to step away from current linear pathways and move towards more circular systems that keep materials and products in use for longer and offer fairly compensated, dignified, inclusive employment opportunities for workers throughout the fashion value chain. Where new fibres or raw materials are required, they should be responsibly sourced from preferred feedstocks that ensure consistently reduced impacts and deliver increased benefits for climate, nature and people relative to their conventional equivalents.9 The GFA Monitor shows that we have the solutions to achieve our goals for a more sustainable, resilient and just world.  

With fast-approaching deadlines to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and global climate targets, there is an urgent need for all sector actors including brands, retailers, manufacturers as well as other key stakeholders – among them consumers, citizens, NGOs, innovators, policymakers and investors – to take holistic and measurable action towards an inclusive and equitable sector transformation. I acknowledge that each company will take its own unique approach to tackling its priority areas for action, guided by their specific materiality assessments, baselines, trade-offs and interpretations and will double down on those topics of greatest relevance for their operations.