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The fashion industry is responsible for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the most profitable fashion companies are often headquartered in countries with historically high emissions, while countries with low carbon emissions are more severely affected by the extreme weather events of the climate crisis. often received.
“This industry is structured in a very colonial way… It is the rich countries that reap all the rewards and benefits, and it is the poor countries that maintain the profits of this industry. ” said Aisha Barenblatt, Founder and CEO of Remake. A non-profit organization that advocates for sustainable practices in the fashion industry.
In this week's BoF Podcast, BoF's Chief Sustainability Correspondent Sarah Kent speaks with Barenblatt, sustainable fashion designer Sammy Oteng, and Vidura Larapanawe, executive vice president of manufacturing company Epic Group, at BoF VOICES 2023. We sit down to discuss how to end climate colonialism in the fashion industry. .
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Key insights:
- In epidemics, the climate crisis manifests itself in colonial structures that perpetuate the unequal distribution of power and benefits. Barenblatt said companies are acting as “glorified marketers who teach producing countries how to deal with the climate crisis.” They’re setting goals based on science, but they’re not paying for it… flipping the script and actually having conversations about the people who create value in this industry and how to put them at the center of the conversation. Let's. ”
- Countries in the Global South are a dumping ground for low-quality clothing from the Global North. An estimated 40 percent of textiles arriving in Ghana are discarded as waste, but the true scale of the clothing surplus is unknown. “We don't even know how much we produce when it comes to fashion. It's said to be between 100 billion and 150 billion. [garments produced each year], that's a difference of 50 billion,” Oten explains. “Until we understand the problem we have, we cannot move forward with his one solution.”
- Alongside climate mitigation, it is important to address climate adaptation. “Every brand and retailer wants to talk about mitigation because they want to profit from the climate crisis, but our communities need climate adaptation resources,” Barenblatt said, adding that he believes in philanthropy. Contribution alone is not enough, he added. “What we want is an equitable way to make these communities healthy. We can't just sit around and have conversations anymore.”
- The fashion industry needs to halve its emissions by 2030 to meet global climate goals, but that timeline is already unrealistic. Lalapanawe says: It is now impossible for any brand or manufacturer to achieve his 2030 goals. ”
