At the G7 Summit (held in Biarritz, France at the end of August), 32 companies owning 150 influential luxury fashion brands around the world signed a climate pledge, promising to reduce the negative impact of the fashion industry on environmental pollution.
Fashion brand leaders sign "The Fashion Impact" pledge, committing to taking steps to reduce the negative impact of the fashion industry on the environment.
The pledge, led by French President Emmanuel Macron and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault, who owns the Kering group, aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Kering Group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron (right).
According to the French Ministry of Ecology, the fashion and textile industry accounts for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 10-20% of pesticides and dyes used in production processes, causing one-fifth of water pollution; the fashion industry's waste accounts for 20-35% of waste discharged into the ocean.
The €1.5 trillion ($1.66 trillion) a year fashion industry is one of the world’s largest and most influential industries, and changing the fashion industry will play a pivotal role in leading global change towards a more sustainable future.
The transformation of the fashion industry will play a pivotal role in leading global change towards a more sustainable future.
To limit global warming while protecting biodiversity and the oceans, the pledge focuses on successfully cutting down on single-use plastics by 2030 and reducing microfiber pollution in the oceans when consumers wash synthetic clothing. It also asks fashion brands to embrace the “circular economy”, which involves innovative recycling and reuse, creating designs that can reuse old clothes.
The “Fashion Impact” pledge itself is not legally binding but only serves as a guide, a promise from globally renowned fashion brands to consciously change to contribute to reducing environmental pollution.
The brands that have committed include Chanel, Hermès, Versace owner Capri Holdings and Calvin Klein brand of PVH Group, Adidas, Nike, Inditex and H&M, Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, Nordstrom,…
