Fashion at COP26
Fashion's role at Conference of Parties, Biodiversity in Fashion, and a bit on Patagonia and Garnier
Big News!!
What is COP26?
I’m sure everyone interested in sustainability has heard something about the conference going on in Glasgow right now, but in case you haven’t or want a bit of a refresher, here is a breakdown on the Conference of Parties (COP).
COP is an annual conference held on climate change and sustainability … think the Paris Agreement. This conference cover talks and negotiations on climate change issues and covers several industries. This year, notably, fashion has a strong presence.
Fashion at COP26
Like many people in the fashion world, I have often struggled with how fashion will improve its vast environmental impact (between 3 - 10% of global emissions). As discussed in the article, fashion and textile brands need to adopt and commit to large-scale change in order to make the necessary impact. However, this requires a vast rethinking of how the industry works. Carbon offsets and cleaner supply chains are not enough any more.
What are your thoughts on Carbon Offsets as a solution to greenhouse gas emissions for companies? Is this the future or will companies adopt a more regenerative model that allows them to control the carbon emissions in their supply chains better?
What Fashion Needs to Know About COP2What Fashion Needs to Know About COP26
The Next Generation
Much like the fashion brands at COP, the fashion consumer is changing. Unfortunately, many young people have been drawn into the allure of the cheap, trendy clothes of fast fashion, then again who hasn’t been at one time or another. My hope is that like many Millennials, Gen Z will eventual outgrow this bad habit. More importantly however, is even though the consumer is becoming more environmentally conscious, brands have to make the first move. People are already basing their purchasing decisions on a company’s sustainability policies and initiatives and this trend will only grow. Brands need to get ahead of the curve and start thinking about what a slower fashion system would look like.
What do you see as the future of fashion? What will be the pivotal change? Will it be circularity? Second hand? Renting?
How to Reach Climate-Conscious Consumers
Biodiversity vs. Fashion
When it comes to fashion’s negative environmental impact, what’s the first thing you think of? My bet is greenhouse gas emissions or textile waste, maybe even water pollution. I bet it isn’t biodiversity. It certainly wasn’t my first thought, but it’s clearly on the top of Kering’s mind in it’s environmental Profit & Loss methodology. The non -profit Textile Exchange is leading this charge to stop the biodiversity lose caused by the fashion industry. From the deforestation caused by the production of leather or the soil erosion caused from excessive cotton farming. All of these issues are important.
Fashion’s new biodiversity benchmark
If you want to learn more about fashion’s biodiversity problem, here’s another article of interest.
Fashion’s biodiversity problem
Thank you for joining me for this week’s recap. I can’t wait to see what comes out of COP26, and hopefully, we will see some big changes soon. Join me next week for more Sustainability in Fashion news. I hope you are all having a great week.
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