Tent & Verité "Combating Forced and Child Labor of Refugees in Global Supply Chains - The Role of Responsible Sourcing" (PDF): With the global refugee crisis showing no signs of fading away, multinationals need to think about how their supply chain interacts with refugees who are often more vulnerable to forced labour when looking for work in a new country. The report highlights why and how companies can and should address the issue of forced labour by rethinking how refugees can be safely integrated into their supply chains, helping refugees gain access to fair, decent work.
Ellen McArthur Foundation "Circular Business Models - Redefining Growth for a thriving Fashion Industry: Circular business models for the fashion industry, which allow companies to generate revenue without producing new garments, represent a significant opportunity for new and better growth in the fashion industry. These business models, which include resale, rental, repair and remodeling, can deliver significant greenhouse gas savings, reaching $700 billion by 2030, which would account for 23% of the global fashion market (today 3.5%). However, the currently booming models such as resale and rental do not always lead to environmental benefits, as the revenues of circular models are not decoupled from production and resource consumption. Among other things, it is criticized that companies measure their success by sales and therefore also want to create incentives for circular economy models to strengthen the linear business model: For example, when returning clothing, vouchers are given for the purchase of new clothing.
Business of Fashion & McKinsey & Company "The State of Fashion" (PDF): The sixth annual report predicts that the global fashion industry will rebound after nearly two years of upheaval. Nevertheless, the industry faces major challenges in the face of supply chain disruption, fluctuating demand and continued pressure on profits. According to the authors, ten topics in three categories will be crucial for the fashion industry in 2022: Global economy: Uneven recovery, logistical standstill; Changes in consumer behaviour: domestic luxury, wardrobe remodeling, metaverse mindset; Mode systems: social shopping, circular textiles, product passports, cyber resilience, talent scarcity.
remake "2021 Remake Fashion Accountability Report": The second annual industry report, based on the survey of 14 experts, evaluates 60 fashion companies in 6 key areas: traceability; wages and well-being; trading practices; raw materials; environmental justice and climate change; Governance, diversity and inclusion. Companies that do not support workers' support for systemic reforms in the fashion industry will be deducted points. Specifically, companies were deducted points that refused to Accord to join, which #PayUp They did not agree, and they did not agree. Garment Worker Protection Act not supported. Among other things, the Textilbündnis-Unternehem were examined. C&A, Primark, Adidas, and H&M.
COP26: The Bangladeshi jeans manufacturer Mostafiz Uddin Takes a stand on the call for TextileExchangeCreate tax incentives to encourage fashion brands to procure environmentally friendly materials (See news update of KW 45). Uddin asks now what about the suppliers, because the signatories of the renewed Fashion Industry Charter will be highly dependent on their suppliers investing in more sustainable manufacturing processes to meet their climate commitments. In view of this, he asks: Where are the tax incentives for suppliers? He wonders that the fashion industry has made many climate commitments over the past five years, but has not yet provided enough detail on how these commitments will affect suppliers, what suppliers need to do to ensure fashion brands achieve their goals, and where the funding and investments are to come from to improve supply chains.
Forced labour of the Uyghurs: The Report by ECCHR (PDF) examines the reliability of leading textile certifications and their certification bodies as well as their relationship to the situation in the region Xinjiang. The results show that despite the well-known human rights risks in Xinjiang the companies in the Uyghur region have been certified as compliant with labour standards for years. Suppliers based in Xinjiang or those who are in Xinjiang If you could use produced cotton, you can also process certified cotton and mix it with your own cotton. The paper focuses on textile certifications Global Organic Textile standards (GOTS) and its certification body Control Union Certifications, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and Cotton made in Africa (CmiA). In view of the alleged state-sponsored mass surveillance and forced labour in the region, typical monitoring instruments such as social audits cannot reliably rule out the possibility that in the companies of the suppliers in Xinjiang Forced labour is used. Certification systems should therefore urgently reconsider their cooperation with all suppliers in the region (see also the news on forced labour in the latest News Update and the statement of South wind).
Pakistan: The Clean clothes campaign publishes an Declaration of solidarity with the workers of Sindh Province. The province is one of the most important centers of clothing production in Pakistan. On July 9, the provincial government announced a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage from 17,000 to 25,000 rupees (about €124). Basically, this is a great victory for the workers who have to fight for survival with starvation wages that are far below the rising cost of living. However, this victory has yet to prove itself in reality. The factory owners fight against it in court and threaten to emigrate. At the same time, the brand manufacturers remain idle and contribute little to the respect of workers' rights. The CCC Requires buying brands such as H&M, C&A, Aldi North and Adidas to follow up on their promise to work for living wages in the industry. Among other things, they could inform the suppliers that the new minimum wage can be reflected in the prices they charge the brand manufacturers for their products, thereby committing to cover any shortfalls and giving the suppliers the confidence to continue to work in the province. Sindh to produce.
