Did you know that total estimated greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production are more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined? Textile production is a really polluting industries, producing 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year.⠀
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Clothing production has almost doubled in the last 15 years – yet every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned. The UN Environment Assembly recently launched the Alliance on Sustainable Fashion which will push for action to reduce the negative social, economic and environmental impact of the fashion industry. ⠀
Specifically, the Alliance works to support coordination between UN bodies working in fashion and promoting projects and policies that ensure that the fashion value chain contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’ targets.⠀
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Sustainability encompasses social issues, such as improvements in working conditions and remuneration for workers, as well as environmental ones, including the reduction of the industry’s waste stream, and decreases in water pollution and contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. Through the Alliance, the UN commits to changing the path of fashion, reducing its negative environmental and social impacts; and turning fashion into a driver of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Source: The Guardian, A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017) and UN