In 2021, the fashion industry committed to aligning with the Paris Agreement, vowing to cut its carbon footprint and achieve the ambitious goal of “net zero.” Three years later, the question remains: Are the industry’s efforts genuinely on track to meet the ambitious climate goals set by the United Nations (UN), or is the fashion world falling short of its promises?
“We choose to bring the fashion industry into climate neutrality and to do these other things that are needed —not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Because that’s going to serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept and unwilling to postpone.” With this paraphrased quote from John F. Kennedy’s speech, the “Fashion Industry on the Race to Zero” panel was launched during COP26 in 2021. The mood was cautiously optimistic as representatives from industry leaders like Adidas and H&M Group acknowledged the urgent need to address climate change.
Fast forward to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The discussion was revisited, this time focusing on the successes and hurdles the industry faces as it works to align with global climate objectives. However, Isabella Luglio, a researcher with the advocacy group Fashion Revolution and research coordinator of the Fashion Transparency Index in Brazil, tells iMEdD that, based on her findings and the UN Emissions Gap Report, only four of the 250 largest global fashion brands have set emissions reduction targets aligned with the UN’s call for a 55% % reduction in absolute emissions by 2030.
The fashion industry, which includes the manufacture and sale of clothing and is valued at around $2.5 trillion, has been at the heart of the global warming debate. It is estimated to account for between 2% and 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor to water pollution. Although activists have long condemned the garment industry’s harmful practices, the UN included the fashion industry’s culprits in the climate change debate just six years ago.
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2050 and Net Zero: So far away, yet so close
Since 2016, 195 countries have signed the Paris Agreement, committing to significant efforts to combat global warming. The agreement aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions—mainly carbon dioxide—by 2050. Given the emissions of pollutants from most sectors of human activity, greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere must be offset by corresponding removals. This process is known as “net zero”.
However, the Paris Agreement applies to national governments, not the corporations within their borders. In 2018, at the UN’s annual climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the need for the fashion industry to contribute to limiting global temperature rise to no more than 2 °C was formally recognised. It was here that the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action was first introduced. The Charter was updated and finalised in 2021.
The document focuses on the fashion industry’s compliance with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5°C and achieving zero emissions by 2050 through science-based targets (SBTi) and annual emissions monitoring. Signatory companies pledge to improve energy efficiency, adopt renewable energy, reduce carbon emissions, and collaborate with stakeholders to support a sustainable transition and UN climate initiatives. While 2030 is a key milestone for progress in line with the Paris Agreement, the Charter allows fashion companies to report their performance two years after signing. Setting targets and adhering to a science-based plan are considered crucial by the United Nations to track progress and make each company’s commitment meaningful.
Are the targets progress?
As reported in the Global Fashion Agenda Monitor 2024—a report that “gauges industry progress towards a net-positive fashion industry” involving strategic partners like H&M Group, Nike, and Ralph Lauren—42% of the 900 companies surveyed have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. However, it’s notable that only 37 of the 82 companies that signed the UN Charter have established climate targets.
Across the industry, the numbers are not encouraging. Cascale’s report indicates that 33% of their partner companies have not set targets based on specific scientific data. The independent Zero Target reporting authority includes six apparel companies, three of which are signatories to the UN Charter. While these companies have improved transparency in their climate-related activities, they have not yet outlined a concrete plan to achieve net zero.
But there is a fundamental difference between setting goals and achieving them. As Luglio says, “We don’t need only a target. We need to progress on that,” adding, “I think the targets are the first step, and we need that because we need something to make the companies accountable. So, we need to know where they’re going, like the direction that they are going […] So we need progress, tangible progress.”
Fossil fuels and fashion: A love affair
One of the key findings from the Fashion Transparency Index 2023 survey, which Luglio and her research team compile annually, is that nearly half of the 250 clothing brands surveyed have set scientifically documented decarbonisation targets, but only 107 are making progress towards these targets. “This doesn’t mean that for these 107 [brands], progress is positive progress,” Luglio notes. “It can be that they are not reporting that the emissions are decreasing, but they are transparent about this information.”
Indeed, she points out that of the three types of emissions defined by the UN, companies are most transparent about their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. The three scopes are a way of categorising the different kinds of emissions a company creates in its own operations and wider “value chain”. Scope 1 refers to emissions from sources controlled by the company, such as fuel used for company vehicles. Scopes 2 and 3 are indirect emissions from its activities. Scope 2 includes emissions from the production of the energy the company buys and uses. Scope 3 covers emissions that are not directly produced by the company but are indirectly associated with its activities, like those from factories where the fabrics are made. For the fashion industry, Scope 3 emissions account for about 96% of total emissions. In the 2023 study, Luglio and her team found that Scope 3 emissions are actually increasing instead of decreasing. “We that amongst those 107 [brands], 58 had emission reductions, and 42 had increases in Scope 3 against the base factor.”
In addition, the UN’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action Progress Report 2023 highlights that despite improvements in emissions disclosure and some reduction achievements, only seven of the 99 signatories have verified significant reductions in emissions.
For the first time in 2023, the Fashion Transparency Index survey collected data specifically on natural gas use and companies’ transparency about it. The fashion industry’s relationship with fossil fuels is very close: “So basically, if you are doing the threads, that do the textile, you’re doing laundry. So, for all of this process, they require a lot of steam and a lot of heat,” as Luglio notes. “The temperatures need to be high to do everything. And coal is used in both. So this is actually a very important point for us because now climate scientists are urging for coal to face out across all industries” However, this is also where the industry is most opaque. “We have really low transparency on this. So, without the data, we cannot assess if the industry is improving or not,” Luglio points out.
The myth that the fashion industry is the second most damaging to the planet has been debunked. Although the industry is making slow but steady progress in terms of transparency, Luglio underlines something many people aren’t aware of: “Transparency is not a synonym for sustainability. But transparency is the bare minimum; it’s the first step.”
Translation: Anatoli Stavroulopoulou
