News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership)

Textile alliance must not be put into artificial coma due to corona crisis

Bonn. The corona crisis is burning glass-like, showing deficits in social and environmental sustainability in the supply chain of local fashion and retail companies. Instead of using the Textile Alliance as a platform for more effective, joint action by different actors and paving the way for more sustainable supply chains after the coronavirus outbreak, several business representatives in the steering committee are now threatening a blockade. A smart strategy for a sustainable future is different, say the civil society member organisations in the alliance.

The Textile Alliance and its members have set themselves the goal of improving the conditions in global textile production – from raw material production to disposal. The coronavirus crisis shows how little has been achieved so far. Suppliers in producing countries fail economically in the shortest possible time due to deeply unfair purchasing practices. It has never been clearer that the wages paid so far are not living wages. Trade union rights are being trampled on. Turbo business models with fast-changing collections encounter difficulties with shop closures in the meantime and overcrowded warehouses at short notice illustrate the enormous consumption of resources in the textile sector.

The Alliance could now pool forces and knowledge to tackle the crisis more effectively together and to agree new rules and strategies for social and environmental sustainability in the supply chain with different stakeholders. However, with reference to the corona crisis, some business representatives argue in favour of suspending the Alliance's activities. Gisela Burckhardt of FEMNET criticises ‘whoever wants to put the textile alliance in an artificial coma now prevents the assumption of responsibility and sustainability progress by member companies’. "We see examples of member companies that want to get involved and, for example, design action plans for the future despite the crisis. Due to the corona crisis, we had agreed in the steering committee to suspend the reporting obligation in the Alliance in 2020. But business representatives in the steering committee are now calling into question the work on joint projects and a resumption of the reporting obligation in spring 2021. The alliance must promote the will of companies, not block them!”

“It is the Alliance’s multi-stakeholder approach, with members from civil society, trade unions, standard organisations, government and businesses, that enables joint learning to make supply chains more sustainable and thus more crisis-resilient,” argues. Sabine Ferenschild from the SÜDWIND Institute. "Anyone who now prevents the work of expert groups of the Textile Alliance ignores the signs of the times and denies the common goal of the Alliance."

Especially the corona crisis makes the urgent need for action in terms of sustainability and responsibility for the supply chain obvious. The Alliance has so far had few clear sustainability successes. It is not only civil society organisations that are convinced that companies that go further in terms of social and environmental sustainability will be better able to survive future crises.

Background information

Alliance for Sustainable Textiles: https://www.textilbuendnis.com

This press release was written by the civil society organisations in the steering committee and does not necessarily represent the opinion of all civil society members. The Textile Alliance has 19 civil society member organisations, which are represented in the steering committee by FEMNET, INKOTA-netzwerk and the SÜDWIND Institute.

Contact persons

Johannes Norpoth
Coordinator of the civil society actors in the Textile Alliance
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0175-92 331 78