The fashion industry still has a long way to go to achieve carbon neutrality, says the UN

The United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action has just released a 2023 progress report on the industry’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality as quickly and as well as possible. Best wishes?

Established in 2018, this charter set the ambitious goal of achieving net zero emissions and was initially signed by 99 major luxury houses and manufacturers, as reported Fashion business. The new report calls for an acceleration of the actions put in place and an intensification of collaborations that go in the right direction:

“Moving forward, it is critical for the industry as a whole to strategically align actions both across businesses and supply chains, but also within the supporting ecosystem, to lay the groundwork now of what needs to happen in the industry. this year, by 2025 and what 2030 requires: reduce emissions at all levels and transform the sector towards a renewable and net zero future by aligning with resilient trajectories at 1.5°C. »

The fashion industry’s lack of transparency complicates efforts to reduce carbon emissions

According to this same report, the signatories of the charter are reportedly performing better than the industry average in efforts in the face of global warming. Despite these encouraging results, it can also be noted that over 50% of signatories did not provide sufficient information to the report’s edition and did not set the suggested climate targets. A lack of transparency and traceability deplored by the card, as retransmitted Fashion business :

“We have seen in our CDP database [la Carbon Disclosure Project est une organisation britannique qui publie des données sur l’impact environnemental des plus grandes entreprises, ndlr] world that the level of transparency, participation and engagement of the garment industry as a whole is far lower than that of most other sectors. A more specific analysis compared to other non-signatory apparel companies may be considered for a future report. »

What carbon emissions are we talking about concretely?

According to specialized media, from 2020 to 2022, the number of signatories who set themselves the goal of using 100% renewable energy in their operations by 2023 increased from 18 to 42%. But this mainly concerns scope 1 and 2 emissions, according to the categorization of the international carbon accounting methodology GHG Protocol. As summarized by the carbon reduction company sami.eco, scope 1 corresponds to direct emissions of greenhouse gases (e.g. office gas heating and vehicle fuel), scope 2 to indirect emissions linked to energy (such as electricity which pollutes above all at the level of its production), e scope 3 refers to other indirect emissions (therefore the vast majority of emissions are linked to the activity of a company, such as the purchase of goods and raw materials, the use of polluting products and services, home-work commuting for all employees, etc.) . However, it is precisely scope 3 emissions that are rarely taken into consideration by companies.

It is therefore the entire chain of fashion brands that needs to be rationalized and made more ecological, in order to move towards carbon neutrality. However, the charter does not provide signatories with a clear definition of supplier commitments expected and simply requires more data collection, training and collaboration. This report therefore shows a growing interest from players in the textile industry, who are increasingly eager to join the movement, but their wishes remain relatively staunch, especially as the fashion industry depends on other sectors.

“Governments must put in place clear and ambitious policy frameworks”

This is why synthesis requires cross-sectoral collaboration:

“The transition to a net zero economy will not be easy and will require unprecedented levels of collaboration both within and beyond the industry. To accelerate the transition, governments need to put in place clear and ambitious policy frameworks. »

In short, it is strongly that the States get involved to achieve real cross-sectoral and structural change.