How circular fashion
addresses the
climate crisis?
Quick Access
Learn more fashion industry terminology from the Glossary.
Quick Access
Learn more fashion industry terminology from the Glossary.
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 emissions1. It is also hit hardest by climate change2, with a barrage of extreme weather conditions disrupting many human lives in the 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 1.8% of annual global GHG emissions3. The fashion industry plays a big part in enabling the climate crisis by:
Using dirty energy
Asia accounts for 66% of worldwide exports of garments, textiles and footwear4. 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 consumption5, 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 share6 and yet, each year, more than 300 million trees are cut down, many from the most vital forest ecosystems7.
- 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 Sweden8.
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 burned9, and when textiles decompose, they release methane (a much more dangerous GHG than carbon dioxide).
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%10, and assuming business-as-usual growth for the apparel sector, emissions are projected to increase 42% by 203011.
The Link Between Circular Fashion and Climate Action
To prevent irreversible climate change, global GHG emissions, including fashion industry’s12, must be cut in half by 2030, and two-thirds of proven reserves of fossil fuels need to be kept in the ground by 205013.
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), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the 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 regenerated14 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:
Current fashion practices | Ideal Circular fashion practices |
Oil is used to create synthetic fibres such as polyester and polyamide. | No oil is extracted to make virgin synthetic fibres. Instead, synthetic fibres are recycled to make new fibres. |
Oil is also used to synthesise most dyestuff and chemicals used during the dyeing and finishing processes. | No oil is extracted to make dyestuff. Instead, by-products of existing industry, textile waste, bacterias, and sustainably grown plants are the base for dyestuff development. |
Coal (the dirtiest energy source) is often used to power boilers needed to heat water and create the steam necessary for the dyeing and finishing processes. | Boilers do not run on coal anymore. Instead, coal is replaced by biomass (such as wood pellets) or agricultural waste. |
Dirty energy is used to power factories via the local electricity grid. | The electricity used is no longer relying on dirty energy. Instead, factories use renewable energy such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. |
Oil is used to create plastic packaging such as polybags, hangers and other accessories. | No oil is extracted to make plastic packaging. Instead, packaging is reduced and made from low-impact, renewable or recycled materials, and can be reused several times. |
Gasoline is used to ship materials and products from manufacturers to warehouses, retailers and consumers. | Shipping is minimised for local manufacturing and market, and lighter packaging is developed to reduce the environmental footprint. Renewable energy is used for shipping. |
Dirty energy is used to care for our clothes with washing and drying, using the local electricity grid. | We care for our clothes in a more conscious manner: washing only when needed, at low temperature whenever possible, favouring line-dring to tumble drying. The electricity used is no longer relying on fossil fuels. Instead, the local grid relies on renewable energy. |
Deforestation (the clearing of land and cutting of trees), is used to grow fibres. Trees are used as raw materials (under the form of cellulosic pulp) for fibre-making. | New fibres are made from existing textile fibres thanks to fibre-to-fibre recycling methods instead of relying on virgin fibres. Alternative materials from other waste feedstock are developed to avoid relying on virgin resources. Existing cellulosic feedstock from discarded fibres, paper, etc. are used to create new cellulosic pulp instead of relying on tree logging. |
The equivalent of one rubbish truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second in the world. | No textile product is landfilled or incinerated. Instead, textile products are used and reused, keeping them for as long as possible. When they can no longer serve their purpose, they are recycled. |
Further Reads
Head to the Redress Academy to find out more about sustainable fashion design and the circular fashion system. You can also take the Redress Circular Fashion Design Course to aid your Redress Design Award application.
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
Footnotes
1 Climate Watch, Historical GHG Emissions, 1990-2020
2 World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2024, Climate change and extreme weather impacts hit Asia hard
3 Apparel Impact Institute (2023), Taking Stock of Progress Against the Roadmap to Net Zero
4 World Trade Organization, World Trade Statistical Review 2023
5 Climate watch, Historical GHG Emissions, 2021
6 Textile Exchange Materials Market Report, December 2023
7 Canopy (2024), Style shouldn’t cost the Earth
8 Estimating the Role of Seven Commodities in Agriculture-Linked Deforestation: Oil Palm, Soy, Cattle, Wood Fiber, Cocoa, Coffee, and Rubber, 2020, World Resources Institute
9 Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017), A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future
10 Global Fashion Agenda & Boston Consulting Group, Pulse of the Fashion Industry (2017)
11 Apparel Impact Institute (2023), Taking Stock of Progress Against the Roadmap to Net Zero
12 Apparel Impact Institute (2023), Taking Stock of Progress Against the Roadmap to Net Zero
13 World Energy Outlook 2012, International Energy Agency
14 Ellen MacArthur Foundation – What is a circular economy?