News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership) 24 July 2017 Is the textile alliance reaching its next milestone? Civil society urges companies to be transparent Photo: © FEMNETCivil society press release in the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles Download the press release (PDF file) This summer, according to civil society members, the Textile Alliance is in a crucial phase: How many roadmaps (Members’ annual action plans to implement social and environmental objectives) will the plausibility check pass successfully? How many members of the Textile Alliance will publish their roadmap? What level of ambition will these roadmaps have? Will the Alliance agree on binding content requirements for the roadmaps of the coming years, such as steps towards the implementation of living wages? All members of the Textile Alliance had to create a roadmap for 2017 for the first time and subject it to an external plausibility check by an independent service provider. Many companies have not complied with this obligation and have been excluded from the alliance or have previously resigned. Among the top-selling and publicly known companies that have left the alliance are Engbers, Ernsting's Family, Real, Trigema and Walbusch. "Leaving the alliance now that companies have to go beyond lip service shows that their commitment to social and environmental standards in their supply chains was probably not meant so seriously," says Berndt Hinzmann from the INKOTA network. The roadmaps of the 20 civil society members of the Textile Alliance were externally checked for plausibility and adopted. Much of it is also prepared to publish them, although the current set of questions was difficult to reconcile with the activities of civil society and their political commitment extends far beyond their participation in the Textile Alliance, but this was not reflected in the roadmap. Civil society calls on all companies in the alliance to also publish their roadmaps in order to present their commitment transparently to the public. “Transparency is an important aspect for achieving verifiable improvements in social and environmental conditions in the textile chain. In addition, the level of ambition of the planned measures is an important indicator," explains Maik Pflaum of the Christian Initiative Romero. For the success of the Textile Alliance, civil society sees the urgent need now to develop binding, measurable requirements for all members. Since most employees in the textile chain work under miserable wage conditions, these requirements must include, among other things, the gradual implementation of living wages. "In order to credibly demonstrate the implementation of the roadmap, independent verification with the help of samples in the producing countries is essential from the point of view of civil society," says Dr Gisela Burckhardt of FEMNET. Contacts:Tim Zahn, Coordinator of Civil Society in the Alliance for Sustainable TextilesThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 0176 4765 6294 Civil society members in the Steering Committee of the Textile Alliance:Dr Gisela Burckhardt, FEMNET/CCC, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,Tel.: 0152 01774080Berndt Hinzmann, INKOTA network/CCC, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 0160 94 69 87 70Maik Pflaum, Christian Initiative Romero/CCC, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 0911 214 2345 20 civil society organisations are members of the Textile Alliance and are represented in the steering committee by the following three NGOs: FEMNET, INKOTA network, Romero Christian Initiative. All three are also sponsors of the Clean Clothes Campaign. Signatory organisations of this press release: The Alliance for Sustainable Textiles is an initiative launched in 2014 by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with the aim of continuously improving social, ecological and economic sustainability along the entire textile chain. More information about the Textile Alliance can be found at: http://textilbuendnis.com/
