UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
22
June
2021 | |
High Level Climate Champions
Newsletter | |
The Cutting Edge Fashion of Climate
Action | |
Fashion
is a global business, an art and a deeply
personal form of expression. Its supply chain
cuts across the economy, from raw materials, to
artistic and functional designs, to small-scale
and mass production, to retail, marketing and
consumers.
The
document, based on contributions from over 25
industry organizations between 2020 and 2021,
looks into known decarbonization efforts in the
fashion space, compiled to support the
industry’s transition to net-zero carbon
emissions. The work has helped generate
alignment on short-, medium-, and long-term
action and milestones required to reach net zero
in the 2040s, while providing a holistic
overview of decarbonization efforts and
milestone tracking. The aim is to promote and
amplify existing initiatives on the road to
COP26 and beyond.
This
is crucial, because the fashion sector is
responsible for 4 per cent of global greenhouse
gas emissions, according to McKinsey
and the Global Fashion Agenda.
At the current pace of reductions, emissions
from fashion by 2030 will be double the maximum
needed to limit global warming to
1.5°C.
Energy:
The shift to renewables and efficiency could
make the biggest emissions reductions - and
support a wider clean energy transition in
developing countries where much of the world’s
apparel and textiles are produced. Signatories
of the Fashion
Pact,
for example, aim to power their operations
entirely on renewables by 2030 and to
incentivize the use of renewables for
manufacturing processes across the supply chain.
The Apparel
Impact Institute
is
working to make mills more efficient and reduce
up to 10 per cent of their CO2 emissions.
Finance:
The apparel market is forecasted to grow to over
US$2 trillion by 2025. This offers a US$20-30
billion per year financing opportunity for the
development of innovative technologies and
business models, according to Fashion
for Good and BCG.
Investment is needed in particular for hard-tech
solutions such as new raw materials. Fashion
for Good’s Good Fashion Fund
is scaling up venture capital funding and the
International Finance
Corporation
is promoting access to finance for apparel
companies.
Policy:
Policies to incentivise the clean energy
transition, textiles recycling and wider
innovation can help to accelerate the sector’s
zero-carbon transformation. The Fashion Charter
is working to encourage enabling policies in
Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Cambodia and other Southeast Asian
countries.
Consumers:
From when we buy a piece of clothing to the way
we wash it, reuse it, recycle it or choose to
toss it - our fashion choices play a role in
decarbonizing fashion, too. Nearly a quarter of
emissions come from consumer usage and waste,
according to the Global Fashion Agenda and
McKinsey. The Fashion Charter and UN Environment
Programme are developing a playbook to
communicate a 1.5°C lifestyle to consumers, due
out later this year.
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The Climate Action
Trendsetters | |
Some
fashion brands are already blazing the trail on
the race to a healthy, resilient zero-emissions
world in the 2040s - and many are in the Race to
Zero.
Burberry
became the first luxury brand to pledge to
become climate-positive by 2040. To get there,
the British brand intends to cut emissions in
its extended supply chain by 46 per cent by 2030
and help others in the industry follow the same
path. Affordable and fast fashion retailer
H&M
similarly aims to have a climate-positive value
chain by 2040, starting with climate-neutral by
2030. Fashion brand Ralph
Lauren
is aiming for net zero emissions across its
operations and value chain by 2040, with a 30
per cent reduction in both between 2020 and
2030.
Outdoor
clothing retailer Patagonia,
a B Corp
Climate Collective
member, aims to reach net-zero emissions across
its supply chain by 2025 by shifting to full
renewable energy, using recycled and renewable
materials and developing low-emission dyeing
techniques.
Sportswear
brand Puma
aims to reduce emissions from its own operations
by 35 per cent and across its supply chain by
two-thirds between 2017 and 2030 en route to net
zero by 2050. Sports brands Adidas, New Balance,
Nike, Salomon and Under Armour, luxury
conglomerate Kering group and brands Chanel,
Salvatore Ferragamo and Stella McCartney,
Chinese viscose rayon leader Sateri, the
manufacturers Artistic Milliners from Pakistan,
DBL Group from Bangladesh and RT Knits Ltd from
Mauritius, chain retailer Target Australia, and
major zip-maker YKK Group are all part of the
Race to Zero campaign, too.
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What is the Future of the Race to
Zero | |
A year
after launching the UN Race to Zero
campaign,
we know where we’re headed and we increasingly
know what it will take to get there. The
question is, what does the Race to Zero campaign
look like after COP26 in November? How do we
keep members on track to ensure they progress
towards and continually raise their
commitments?
This
kicks off a 10-week period in which we encourage
you to submit written responses to specific
questions outlined in the consultation. The
submissions will then be made public and open to
discussion as we work together to set out the
future of the Race to
Zero. | |
- Land
degradation from climate change and the
expansion of agriculture, cities and
infrastructure “undermines the wellbeing of 3.2
billion people,” UN
Secretary-General António Guterres said last
week.
“Restoring degraded land would remove carbon
from the atmosphere … help vulnerable
communities adapt to climate change … and it
could generate an extra US$1.4 trillion in
agricultural production each year.”
- Renewable
electricity outcompetes existing coal-fired
power, yet the share of fossil fuels in the
global energy mix remains as high as it was a
decade ago, at 80 percent, according to
REN21’s
Renewables Global Status
report.
G20 countries barely met, or even missed, their
2020 renewable energy targets, REN21 found,
calling the targets “unambitious”.
- NATO
countries
have invited the alliance’s secretary-general to
formulate a “realistic, ambitious and concrete”
emissions reduction target and assess the
feasibility of reaching net zero by 2050. They
will also begin a regular high-level climate and
security dialogue to exchange views and
coordinate further action.
- The
University of Edinburgh and
UN
have launched a partnership to develop a system
for businesses to measure and reduce emissions
across their operations. The framework will make
it possible to assess the most cost-efficient
way to make the biggest dent in greenhouse
gases.
- The
travel and tourism sector can reduce the amount
of single-use plastic used by, among other
steps, giving contractual preference to reusable
product suppliers, planning ways to avoid a
return to single-use plastic in the event of
disease outbreaks and supporting research and
innovation, according to a report by the
UN
Environment Programme and the World Travel and
Tourism Council.
Enjoyed
this round-up? Keep up to date with daily news
from the Race to Zero, Race to Resilience and
our partners on racetozero.unfccc.int!
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