Fashion’s climate commitments are faltering. According to advocacy group Stand.earth’s latest report, 40 per cent of brands increased their emissions last year. The sector’s overall emissions jumped 7.5 per cent in the same period, per the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii). If fashion’s momentum to tackle the climate crisis wasn’t already questionable, the political climate is slowing things further, as US tariffs drive up costs and regulators move to weaken sustainability legislation in the EU.
But brands are not the final word in climate action. Fashion supply chains contribute the bulk of the industry’s emissions footprint, and some sustainability-focused manufacturing firms have taken matters into their own hands. Many have made significant progress towards reducing their own emissions and setting Science Based Targets (SBTs) for their own facilities and suppliers in recent years.