Research: The 2019 Ethical Fashion Report

I read up to page 31 of The 2019 Ethical Fashion Report. From this, I found how companies can be rated on their ethical practices. It also highlighted different considerations within ethics that I hadn't heard about in my other research. The report was also useful as it compared the company's scores on the 2018 report to the new report, which shows the way that fast fashion is changing. The report was by the British Fashion Council which is a reliable source. These are my notes.

·       Population set to increase to 8.5 billion by 2030 which could lead to an increase (by 63%) from 62 million to 102 million tonnes in global textile production – equivalent to 500 billion t-shirts

·       Small and Medium enterprises make up half of fashion businesses and they often demonstrate how fashion can be done differently. They can create new environmentally friendly practices

·       SMEs can be experimental and therefore are able to drive change but they often lack time and resources due to being so small – hard to reduce environmental footprint

·       93 billion cubic metres of water are used in textile production every year, 26% of the global carbon budget will be used by fast fashion by 2050, ¼ of industry resources are wasted as leftovers, £140 million of clothing goes to landfill every year, 160 million tonnes of clothing will be produced by 2050, 1.7 billlion tonnes of greenhouse gas emitted by 2015 textile production

·       No short term incentives for brands to change so only long sighted businesses are changing things

·       Fashion industry contributes £32 billion to the UK’s economy and 890,000 jobs

·       Want to reach zero emissions by 2050

·       Fashion industry employs 60 - 75 million people worldwide. Estimated that 5.6% of household expenditure (in the EU) is spent on clothes and shoes (80:20), the UKs average spend is higher than the rest of the EU

·       Consumer demand has increased by 60% in the last 15 years.

·       Almost 60% of clothing is disposed of within 1 year (often landfill or incineration)

·       ‘Fashion will embrace change and reinvent itself as an industry, so everyone can enjoy the feelgood benefits of fashion without today’s environmental consequences’ – Carmel McQuaid, Head of Sustainable Business and Marks & Spencers

·       150+ countries adopted 17 sustainable development goals – ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity by 2030.

·       United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Change – developed due to the pivotal role that fashion plays in climate change (Paris Agreement). The 1^st meeting was held in January 2018 and it bought together a range of representatives from fashion brands. A charter was developed that says that current business models in fashion won’t meet the current climate agenda, the fashion industry needs more systematic change, all companies in fashion have the chance to take action in reducing greenhouse gases.

·       Companies who signed the charter have agreed to things such as supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement, reducing GHG, publicly report GHG emissions, prioritise low climate impact & sustainable materials, develop a strategy including targets to empower climate action

·       Canopy (NGO) works with fashion brands to develop sustainable sourcing to protect forests – has worked with ASOS and Stella McCartney

·       Full transparency in the supply chain reveals environmental impacts and allows customers to make better choices. 89% of customers expect brands to report on sustainability.

·       19% of the world’s cotton is organic

·       Between 2017 and 2018, ASOS reduced their GHG emissions by 10% (electric delivery vehicles etc.)

·       Waterless dye processes ae being developed