News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership) 09 September 2019 Civil society in the Textile Alliance: Green button just another voluntary measure alongside a weak textile alliance Berlin / Bonn. Today's presentation of the new ‘Green Button’ textile label by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) uses civil society in the Textile Alliance to determine a critical location. The members of the civil society alliance criticise the fact that the Green Button, like the Textile Alliance, is only a voluntary measure. However, there is an urgent need for a law that makes human rights, environmental and anti-corruption due diligence mandatory for all companies. This law must form the basis for social, ecological and economic sustainability. Voluntary measures such as the Green Button and an improved textile alliance could build on this. "Textilbündnis and Grüner Knopf are voluntary instruments that many brand and retail companies in the textile sector evade," says Sabine Ferenschild from the Südwind Institute. Only about half of the textile industry participates in the Textile Alliance. The Green Button, which as a state seal wants to promise consumers sustainable production of textile products at the processing stages of sewing and fabric finishing, will also only cover a partial section of the industry. “Given the incomplete market coverage, we, like some companies, are calling for a law.” As a voluntary multi-stakeholder initiative, the Textile Alliance can make sense based on a legal regulation if it credibly and transparently verifies compliance with due diligence obligations by companies. "However, the current mechanism does not ensure that member companies, in particular, capture the essential human rights risks and effectively address them with appropriate measures," says Gisela Burckhardt of FEMNET. "The planned revision of the review mechanism must also make it more visible to the public whether and how effectively a company ensures the implementation of human rights in its supply chain." Joint commitment of companies as potential added value of the textile alliance An added value of the textile alliance vis-à-vis the Green Button could be manifested by a joint commitment of the alliance members in alliance initiatives. With many profound problems in the supply chain, such as the payment of living wages, a single company can hardly achieve sustainable change. Berndt Hinzmann of the development organization INKOTA criticizes: “Of the 72 member companies, only 17 are currently participating in alliance initiatives. In order to be a meaningful building block in a mix of legal and voluntary measures, the Textile Alliance must credibly assess the implementation of due diligence obligations and ensure effective progress through joint commitment.. We are currently a long way from that.” Background information on the Textile Alliance More information on the Sustainable Textiles Alliance: https://www.textilbuendnis.com. The Textile Alliance has 18 civil society member organisations, which are represented by FEMNET, INKOTA-Netzwerk and the SÜDWIND Institute in the so-called steering group. Contact persons: Dr Gisela Burckhardt, FEMNET, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 0152 01774080 Dr. Sabine Ferenschild, SOUTHWIND Institute, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel: 0228 7636 9816 Berndt Hinzmann, INKOTA network, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 0160 94 69 87 70
