The global apparel and textiles industry produces a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) thereby contributing to global warming. The latest analyses estimate the industry’s contribution to be anywhere between 2% and 8% of global GHG emissions — and if it continues with business as usual, industry emissions will continue to rise.
A majority of our industry’s GHG emissions are generated within raw material production, supply chain processing and assembly, and in customer product care and end of life disposal.
Because these impacts are outside the direct control of any single company, all actors, including brands and retailers, need to work together and engage with suppliers, governments, financial organizations and consumers if we are to make a difference.
Given the seriousness of the situation, industry stakeholders are expecting companies to do more than just acknowledge the problem. They want to see concrete and significant progress.
What does climate action look like for the apparel and textiles industry? It involves setting science-based targets for GHG reductions. It means creating realistic, time-bound plans for reducing GHG emissions and for reporting on progress on a regular basis. It means working together to create solutions that can’t be developed or implemented without collaboration. It means finding ways of using the climate challenge as a driver for business innovation, thereby creating competitive advantages. It means working with policy makers to develop sufficient structural incentives for accelerating ambitious climate action, which must include reducing overconsumption and overproduction.
The Paris Agreement aims to hold temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as recommended by the IPCC. This translates into achieving net-zero emissions by the second half of this century. To help achieve these goals, The Sustainable Fashion Academy launched STICA. STICA’s aim is to support apparel and textiles organizations as well as the entire apparel and textile industry to reduce their climate impacts and transform the industry. Ultimately, STICA also wants to ensure Scandinavian countries and the global industry do more than their share – well before 2045. This is the only way to avert the most serious consequences resulting from global warming.
Supports apparel and textile companies operating in both Scandinavian, European and international markets to set science-based targets and reduce their greenhouse gases in line with a 1.5°C warming pathway, as outlined by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.
Provides an independent, neutral, non-competitive platform for companies and organizations to demonstrate accountability by publicly reporting on their progress on a regular basis and also to learn best practices for reducing their GHG emissions. Learn more about our Climate Action Program & Network and view STICA’s annual Progress Reports.
Advocates for ambitious climate legislation at the industry level and supports the development of joint projects and cross-sector collaborations in order to reduce the apparel and textile industry’s GHG emissions overall. To learn more about STICA’s industry action, click here.
INITIATIVE FOUNDERS
