Climate Week is coming to the Big Apple on Monday and last week was Fashion Week in New York City. No one has figured out how to align climate goals with fashion’s current business model.
Almost every company in the industry has a plan or a plan to make a plan to change how they manufacture products to be more sustainable. The concept of circularity has given rise to it, and is geared at the fashion industry. The industry contributes between 2% and 8% of global carbon emissions.
Things get weird there. There isn’t much discussion about how many goods a company should be making. Businesses are being kept in expansion mode.
Many companies are starting to realize they have a situation that appears irreconcilable. Alternative models to growth can be words that make people uncomfortable.
H&M earned a “B” for its climate disclosures in 2021. On top of that, H&M is trying to reduce its water and plastic use. The production volume of 3 billion garments per year can’t be counteracted by the best materials. Is there a way to separate climate goals from the strategy?
Many scientists don’t think so Decoupling is not possible or it could be possible for emissions but not for resource use according to scientists. It is extremely unlikely that it would ever happen.
Companies are trying. Gucci was able to cut emissions 15% compared to the previous year while still increasing sales. capping growth, focusing on fewer, higher-quality items, and narrowing inventory to climate-friendly options are some of the alternative models on offer. A third of what is needed to keep the 1.5 Celsius goal alive could be cut by the rise in resale, rental, repair and remaking businesses.
The people in the fashion space have been talking about the elephants in the room of overproduction and overconsumption for a long time.
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