HOW CIRCULAR FASHION ADDRESSES THE CLIMATE CRISIS

What is the Climate Crisis?

As defined by the United Nations and NASA, climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts are natural, but since the mid-20th century, human activities have been the main driver of change in Earth’s climate.

We are now experiencing a climate crisis, with unprecedented land and ocean temperature increases, rising sea levels, and extreme weather such as typhoons, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and more. 

Across the world, extreme climate events are accelerating, caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane which are generated in great amounts when:

• Burning fossil fuels, like oil or coal, for energy (also known as dirty energy), or 

• Clearing land and cutting down forests, i.e. deforestation. 

As a manufacturing region, Asia is at the centre of the climate crisis. With many factories located in Asia, the environmental impact of production affects the local landscape at a greater scale. According to Climate Watch, Asia produces 50% of the annual global GHG emissions.

According to the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Asia is hit hardest by climate change, with the region heating up faster than the global average. With a barrage of extreme weather conditions, climate change has disrupted many human lives in the Asia region. In 2023, floods and storms in Asia resulted in over 2,000 fatalities and affected over 9 million people.   

How Does Fashion Contribute to the Climate Crisis?

Curbing fashion’s carbon footprint is an urgent matter. In 2021, the apparel sector emitted an estimated 0.897 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Co2e), based on data from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Worldly and Textile Exchange. That’s roughly 1.8% of annual global GHG emissions.

The fashion industry plays a big part in enabling the climate crisis by: 

• USING DIRTY ENERGY

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Asia accounts for 66% of worldwide exports of garments, textiles and footwear. Because much of the world’s factories and production plants are located in Asia, the region is responsible for over half of the global primary energy consumption, heavily relying on dirty energy (fossil fuels). Dirty energy emits heat-trapping pollution into our planet’s atmosphere, which forms a thick blanket around the Earth. This is what is causing our planet to overheat. 

• CLEARING LAND 

The fashion industry is also land intensive, relying on deforestation to meet the ever-growing demand of natural materials such as cotton, viscose, wool, rubber, leather hides, etc. Overall, the fashion industry is projected to use 35% more land for fibre production by 2030 – an extra 115 million hectares that could be left to preserve biodiversity. 

Deforestation is a two-fold issue when it comes to GHG emissions. Trees are ‘carbon-sinks’: they trap and absorb accumulated carbon dioxide that exists in the atmosphere. When cut down or burnt, we are losing those precious carbon sinks, and the accumulated carbon dioxide that was previously stored gets released into the atmosphere.  

When it comes to deforestation and land use linked to the fashion industry, two striking examples are:

• Viscose, a man-made cellulosic fibre using wood as raw material, represents only ~5% of the fibre market share  and yet, approximately 150 million trees are cut each year to feed the world's viscose production mills, of which approximately half comes from ancient and endangered forests. 

• Leather, although considered a by-product of beef production, is a raw material under scrutiny for its link to cattle farming and deforestation. Between 2001-2015, 16% of tree cover loss was linked to cattle farming, the equivalent of an area of land the size of Sweden.

• CREATING WASTE

Finally, it is important to note that textile waste greatly contributes to GHG emissions: every second in the world, an equivalent of one rubbish truck of textiles is landfilled or burned, and when textiles decompose, they release methane. 

The impacts above are compounded by fashion’s overproduction. We are producing more fashion than ever before - much more than we can consume – and the problem is getting worse, not better. By 2030, the global apparel consumption is projected to rise by 63%, and if the fashion industry stays on its current trajectory, the GHG emissions from textile production will also rise by more than 60%. By 2050, the fashion industry is projected to use 26% of the world’s carbon budget.

The Link Between Circular Fashion and Climate Action

To prevent irreversible climate change, global GHG emissions must be cut in half by 2030, and two-thirds of proven reserves of fossil fuels need to be kept in the ground by 2050. 

We must act now. 

The fashion industry must do its part, turning to climate resilient solutions that reduce or avoid GHG emissions while bringing economic, social and environmental benefits. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Paris Agreement, fashion companies have already started to develop sustainability strategies.

 Amongst these is the transition to a Circular Fashion system –  where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated and where responsibility is taken for the product’s entire lifecycle and its impact on the planet.

Here is how circular practices can transform the current fashion industry:

FURTHER READS

Institutions gathering or providing trusted data on the climate crisis:

• United Nations

• NASA

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

• Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative

• Global Forest Watch

Reports and Interesting articles

• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

• Paris Agreement

• IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2023

• The impact of textile production and waste on the environment, in the European Union

• What is a carbon budget?

• Fashion on Climate Report by McKinsey & Company and Global Fashion Agenda, 2020

Ten Countries at risk of climate disaster, International Rescue Committee

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