World Retail Congress & Boston Cunsulting Group "Sustainability in Retail is Possible but there's Work to be Done" (PDF): Research has shown that less than 20% of major retailers are on track to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. For the study, 37 large retail companies (including eight from the clothing sector) were analysed. The study found that most large retail companies have not yet put in place a comprehensive sustainability agenda and that less than 20% of companies are currently on track to reduce Scope 3 emissions and thus meet the goals of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. This is important in that Scope 3 emissions, i.e. the greenhouse gas emissions that occur in a company's value chain, typically account for more than 90% of a company's total environmental impact. It is also surprising that incentives and reporting from retailers are rarely used to achieve sustainability results.
Interline "Fashion reset" (PDF): A complex combination of technological progress, social change, textile innovation and low-cost mass production has created a fashion industry that relies on constant growth and unsustainable volume. The industry has been in a "downward spiral" for quite some time, with success often based on a rapid-fire principle - the flooding of the market with mass-produced goods and high-speed diversity - creating a self-reinforcing cycle of overproduction and waste. The report explores ways to escape this spiral and reshape its approach - from reversing the flow from design to production to completely new commercial and creative models that have no physical output at all.
CO2-neutral cotton: The Aid by Trade Foundation and Atmosfair (AbTF) bring them ‘Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) Carbon Neutral’ initiative as the basis for a more climate-friendly textile supply chain into the market. The AbTF thus offers sustainably verified cotton in accordance with the Cotton Made in Africa standard, which not only compensates for, but also reduces, step by step, the greenhouse gas emissions from cotton production up to the ginned fibre. For example, electricity from solar plants will gradually replace the conventional electricity mix in the ginning plants (factories where the fibers are mechanically separated from the seeds of the cotton). Where no reduction measures can be taken at present or in the long term, the remaining CO2 emissions are compensated.
War in Ukraine: The Yale School of Management (Connecticut) is constantly updating a List of Western companies operating in Russia and their response to the war in Ukraine. The evaluation list is intended to make it comprehensible which companies have so far taken which measures and thus increase the pressure. It assesses the status of companies' activities in Russia using public sources such as government documents, corporate statements, reports from financial analysts, and non-public sources such as the network of corporate insiders, whistleblowers, and executive contacts on a grade scale from A to F. Most fashion groups, from the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH About the leading sportswear companies Adidas and Nike Up to the fast fashion giant H&MThe companies in this category have closed their stores and discontinued all supplies and operations, but hope to return soon.
Follow up certification systems: In the news update of KW 13 we reported on a study of the Changing Markets Foundation. The analysis found that all ten certification schemes examined do not meet sufficiently high standards, that everyone lacks accountability, and that all progress on the circular economy is delaying, including by sticking to overproduction, increasing fast fashion, and industry's reliance on fossil fuels. WRAP and ZDHC We have now responded to the results. WRAP affirms to have a roadmap with intermediate targets to reach the main milestones by 2030 and declares that it regularly reviews progress and reserves the right to exclude signatories who do not have adequate measures to achieve these objectives. ZDHC Some of the observations that have been made about ZDHC do not accurately reflect the organization and some of the hurdles they are trying to overcome.
emission: The Guardian Criticizes the fact that well-known names such as H&M and Nike from Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) get good grades and can claim that their annual carbon dioxide emissions have decreased, even though their actual emissions have increased. Although these fashion brands report their global gross emissions, they are calculated in relation to total sales. This means that emissions are seen as declining as long as emissions increase less than revenues per year. The 2020 Climate Change Report Nike For example, it describes how "emissions increased by 1% year-on-year, offset by revenue growth of 7% year-on-year, resulting in a drop in emissions per revenue (in fiscal 2019) of more than 5%". It is also critical to note that many companies do not consider Scope 3 emissions categorised as upstream or downstream emissions, which means they do not take into account pollution from their supply chain. VogueAuthor Bella Webb Go to the recently published IPCC-Report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the UN) and declares that all sectors must at least halve their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, in order to comply with the 1.5°C target set out in the Paris Agreement. For fashion, this means more ambitious goals, faster implementation of solutions and a comprehensive reassessment of its value system.
Greenwashing: The Consumer Agency Rhineland-Palatinate has taken action against the Dutch laundry provider Hunkemöller Complaint filed. Specifically, it is about some online offered garments that are made by Hunkemöller It is advertised as sustainable. However, it is not ensured that the product is made from sustainably produced materials: According to the Consumer Agency, Hunkemöller its advertising only with membership in the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which promotes the production of sustainable cotton and requires that member companies cover their cotton needs from at least 10% of the cotton thus produced. However, this proportion of sustainable cotton is mixed with conventionally produced cotton in the supply chain, so that it is ultimately not clear which garments and how much of this ‘greener’ cotton is actually in. They were also admonished. Fashion ID GmbH & Co. KG, Operator of the online shop peek-cloppenburg.de, and the Popken Fashion.
Complications in supply chains: In the supply chains at sea that have become increasingly out of step since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfWNo relaxation in sight. Currently, about 12% of all goods shipped worldwide are stuck. Reasons for this include the ongoing pandemic and the China's rigid pandemic policy and the sanctions imposed on Russia. The war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia Foreign Trade Association BGA severe consequences and could lead to a wave of failures in the transport sector. The German transport industry is also experiencing sharp rises in energy prices and driver shortages.
Sri Lanka: The Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum Reports on Repression and repression of trade unions and workers' organisations during COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. Based on discussions with trade unions, workers' rights organisations and garment workers, this report shows that Sri Lanka's largest garment manufacturer, Brandix, violated the government’s COVID-19 guidelines in the days prior to an outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 in one of its factories. In addition, this report reveals that both Brandix as well as the police and military of the Sri Lankan government have intensified the repression of Sri Lankan trade unions and workers' organisations working on the case. The UN-Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association, Clement VouleCondemns the crackdown on protests in Sri Lanka and the use of live ammunition by police against demonstrators.
Bangladesh: Leading representatives of the Garment Workers Trade Union Centre (GWTUCAt the beginning of the month, at a rally, the owners of the clothing factories called upon the Wages and holiday supplements of employees until 20.4., i.e. before the upcoming sugar festival (Eid-ul-Fitr), to be paid. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had previously announced that it would pay only 15 days' wages for the month of April..
