Fashion at COP26 UN Climate Change Conference
The fashion industry was on the agenda in Glasgow on 8 November 2021, and not much has changed
I went to COP26 to Talk about Fashion in the Amazon at COP26. Also, I attended the panel Fashion industry on the race to zero, with 30-40 people as audience. Here follows a memo, just some notes, and news, without a discussion on the topic. To be honest, I am very disappointed with the direction we are going through. There is so much to be done. We, humankind, and special professionals of the fashion industry need to rethink dramatically what we are doing. The discussions were superficial, I would say shallow, focused on awareness and not on results. It is like we are still in the Green Design in the 1970’s… For now, I will just register my disappointment here and the fashion memo below.
Fashion industry on the race to zero
Watch the complete panel “Fashion Industry on the Race to Zero”. This was the first time Fashion was in the spotlight at COP.
First panel
(1) Patricia Spinosa (UNFCCC)
- Her secretary replaced her;
- help to decarbonize the industry;
- a year – 20-30% emissions
- invite to take action.
(2) Helena Helmersson (H&M)
Didn’t go.
(3) Andrew Lo (Crystal group)
- difficult, but possible
- need more awareness for the supply chain
- more incentives from the government to invest in sustainable factories.
- palnning solar panels in all factories, only solves 20%of the problem
- people power
- need more education starting from the retailers.
- more trining
- maybe 10% of the suppliers re sustainable aware, 90% don’t know/care
- to push solar actions
(4) Bjorn Gulden (PUMA)
- 3-4-5 years he has seen a big change
- he is in the industry for the past 30 years
- influence to reach young people
- not to use oil-based materials
- need to put more money on the materials
- “I’m positive”
- innovation
- should be scored by the consumers
Update: As a controversy, a report launched on 29 November 2021 by Stand.Earth shows how PUMA leather value chain is connected to deforestation in the Amazon.
News: New study links major fashion brands to Amazon deforestation – The Guardian
(5) Delman Lee (TAL Apparel)
- invest in renewable energy
- financial market
- should be a way to distinguish sustainable company from another that is not
(6) Hélène Valade (LVMH)
- Nightmare to discover the climate situation
- Launched a programme focused on biodiversity
- Stella McCartney
- Early stages, difficult to share results
- Regenerative agriculture/couture
- Responsable advertisement
(7) Jerome Le Bleis (Burberry)
- We need to, have to… focus on raw materials
- ambition: become climate positive for 2024
- incentives
- Collaborations with the supply chain
- propose a platform for collaboration
- need concrete join actions
Second panel
(8) Claire Bergkamp (Textile Exchange)
- 1-5% of the market prefers eco/sustainable fashion
- Costs: the main barriers to buy sustainable materials (for the brands)
- Requires coordination with supply chains
(9) Amina Razvi (Sustainable Apparel Coalition)
- clean energy
(10) Federica Marchionni (Global Fashion Agenda)
- Optimistic
- Feel/see the change
- help mobilize the industry to change
- very excited
- “Fashion & Climate” – Free to download at Global Fashion Agenda website
- Important to create businesses cases
- Collaboration is critical
- Spent the past 10 years developing tools, to skill the stakeholders
- to change business model
(11) Rubana Hug (BGMEA)
- Need to work with the brands 1st, then the suppliers. Important to understand the Blangadesh landscape – 1mi people working on fashion.
- Need to scale raw materials.
- Degrowth.
(12) Lucy Shea (Futerra)
Discourse
(13) Paul Polman (Imagine)
- Any business depends on nature. Flipside: we can create more jobs, etc. by shifting to a green economy.
- Do less harm.
- Regenerative/Restorative corporate/economy – we need to move to this direction.
- imperative to act.
- Macron shared/asked me to help, focus on fashion industry.
- Fashion is looking at joint-actions.
- Decarbonization of the production plants.
- Multistakeholder model.
- Fashion Pact integrated in COP26. Enhance the coalition.
- We have a small window of opportunity.
Interview
(14) Stella McCartney
- share info – have conversations;
- transparency – circularity – aware of the imperfections;
- Education – how to empower people via education? – Have been educating her team for the past 20 years
- “Don’t be afraid to speak up”
UN Climate Change
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom is a crucial opportunity to achieve pivotal, transformational change in global climate policy and action. It is a credibility test for global efforts to address climate change and it is where Parties must make considerable progress to reach consensus on issues they have been discussing for several years. COP 26 comes against the background of widespread, rapid and intensifying climate change impacts, which are already impacting every region on Earth. Also, COP 26 comes against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the urgent need to build back better for present future generations to ensure a safe future. The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
+ Fashion at COP26
At the Africa Pavillion, there was my talk in the panel Sustainable Innovation for Sustainable Future.
In addition, there was the panel The Fashion Challenge for the Future: Sustainable Fashion.
News & Reports
What fashion should expect at COP26 – Vogue Business
Fashion unites to a call to action for COP26 – Fashion Revolution
What Was Fashion Doing at COP26? – New York Times
Fashion for Global Climate Action – UNFCCC
Decarbonising Fashion – Milestones – UNFCCC
Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action – download PDF – UNFCCC
Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action – Climate Action Playbook – UNFCCC
7 Key Takeways for Fashion from COP26 – Global Fashion Agenda
