SDG 13: Let’s Talk Climate Action

Written by: Toni Ojo-Akinkunmi, Africa’s Regional Coordination Team Policy Lead @Threading Change

22 August 2023

[10-minute read]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established seven years ago (2015) by the United Nations (UN) and were adopted by all UN Member States at the time to act as “A shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.”

These SDGs were supposed to be the “urgent call” for governments, industries, and citizens needed to commence the long and hard process of creating lasting change and global solidarity in the pursuit of a better environment tomorrow. Seven years down the line though since, many industries have barely begun implementing sustainable development initiatives.

Here at Threading Change though, our specialty is in fashion and the textile industry; that is what we can speak to, and so we encourage you to follow us along on this ride and learn about the UN SDGs and specifically how they relate to the fashion industry.

SDG13:  Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Increasing reports of extreme weather patterns and natural disasters. Biodiversity diminishing. Water scarcity and food insecurity. The vast effects of pollution and accumulating industrial emissions are felt all over the world daily. Climate change is a reality and the fashion industry is perhaps, the least talked-about contributor to the crisis.

Consider, for a moment, the lifecycle of a single item of clothing. From the exploitative extraction of natural resources for fiber production, the synthesizing of non-biodegradable materials, to the toxic by-products of process manufacturing finally being dumped after hardly any usage—Every single stage leaves devastating footprints on the planet. Coupled with exponential demand, and reckless consumerism satiated only by increased production in the form of fast fashion, one can begin to understand the extent to which environmental damage accumulates as a result of fashion.  

In a world where ‘Buy more wear less’ culture reigns, how then, do we work to navigate and mitigate the increasing toll on the environment while still maintaining our sense of style? The #envison2030 goal for climate action and its associated list of targets seeks to explore this.

Target 1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

With the explosive growth of the garment and footwear sectors, fashion’s impact on rapidly shifting climate conditions is on the rise. More than doubling global clothing production since 2000, the industry has become the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). This equates to about 10% of global emissions (over 2.1 billion tons), far exceeding the combined carbon contributions of all international flights and maritime shipping combined by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) calculations. At these current rates, projected trajectories show no signs of slowing down.

During production, large amounts of water (one-tenth of the world’s industrial supply) and fossil fuel energy are consumed to process materials. Coupled with the use of pesticides, chemicals for the decomposition of raw fibers and dyes, wastewater, and carbon emissions are inevitable symptoms of clothing operations. Often incorrectly disposed of, these toxins contaminate the air, soil, and drinking water supply of surrounding ecosystems and communities. What’s more, microplastics from synthetic fibers leach into water systems from the washing machine cycles, accounting for approximately 35% of all microplastics in the world’s oceans. Even after manufacturing and wear, clothing continues to pollute with 57% of unsold, discarded, and used clothing ending up in landfills to be incinerated or further decompose and release methane gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. 

To bring about change, the industry as a whole needs to look at decarbonizing the supply chain and adapting current processes to more eco-friendly alternatives. This involves reducing upstream operation emissions by minimizing and reducing overproduction, in addition to transitioning to higher efficiency, renewable energy sources. Improving clothing and packaging material composition by incorporating greater percentages of natural and recycled fibers is also an integral step towards progress. Finally, encouraging sustainable consumer behaviour greatly strengthens the capacity for change. 

What can you do?

Adopt a more conscious approach to fashion consumption by practicing mindfulness, sustainability, and making more environmentally friendly choices. This will help move the industry towards circularity.

·      Explore garment rental, resale (second-hand, thrift shops, vintage, clothing swaps), and mending alternatives before buying new

·      Buying versatile, higher-quality items that will last

·      Shop locally produced, checking for ethically and sustainably mindful brands and small business

·      Reduce washing and drying cycles and follow care labels on your clothes

·      Try recycling and upcycling options to reduce textiles sent to landfill waste

Target 2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning

In the wake of Greenwashing and numerous misleading sustainability claims from many international corporations and brands, the global demand for increased reporting, transparency, and accountability on supply chain operations is loud.

While environmental data collection has been standard procedure in many other industries for years already, repertory systems and regulations that govern (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ESG factors in fashion are only just beginning to emerge. Combining the efforts of policymakers, governments, and investors, many new measures are being proposed or currently implemented to improve the textile and garment sectors towards integrated conscious practices and environmental due diligence.

Within the European Union (EU), a Strategy for Sustainable and Circular textiles has been proposed for implementation by 2026. Requiring companies to disclose full product life cycles, durability, and disposal information to the consumer with third-party verification to validate all claims and labels, this plan seeks to ban ‘green screens’ thrown up by brands. To curb overproduction and overconsumption and break the ‘fast fashion’ cycle, this approach appeals to businesses to reduce the frequency of product releases and ensure that textiles are made without harming people or the planet, last longer, and are appropriately disposed of.

In the United States (US), several sustainability and fashion-related legislation have been issued to the presidency. The FABRIC Act protects workers’ rights in the garment industry, encompassing fair hourly wages, better record keeping, and institutional fines for violating labour laws. Additionally promising a thirty percent tax reduction on domestically produced products, this bill incentivizes businesses to cut down on excessive emissions from importing outsourced, offshore garment production. The Fashion Act aims to hold brands responsible for their role in climate change by challenging them to set environmental performance goals and achieve these Science-Based Targets as outlined under the Paris Agreement. This includes compulsory disclosure of the risks and impacts of their operations in terms of GHG emissions in addition to energy, water, material, plastic, and chemical usage.

As more global legislations and policies strive to moderate the environmental impact of multinational, heavy-hitting large corporations and brands, initiatives for sustainability-focused innovation, as well as emission and human rights transparency, will become an intrinsic part of every fashion business’s portfolios.

What can you do?

Make appeals to policymakers, investors, industry regulators, and governments. You can do this by:

·      Sign and support accords and petitions, manifestos that hold relevant bodies accountable to strategies and planning toward climate action

·      Participate in policy drafting and ideation sessions

·      Join and attend activism events and protests in favour of establishing industry regulations

·      Hold companies and brands accountable to existing policies by calling them out through social media, open letters, and emails

Target 3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning

Education and awareness are fundamental aspects in mobilizing and empowering communities to take action on the climate front. As people start to recognize and understand how much the fashion industry has contributed to excessive waste, overconsumption, and emissions, they will be more motivated and willing to make an effort to cooperate and collaborate towards equity and climate justice movements.

Platforms introducing and exposing everyone to the causes and real effects of climate change should be embedded at all levels of education across formal institutions, communities, and professional workplaces. That being the creation of inter-disciplinary programs and knowledge sharing nodding to various departments (engineering, agriculture, arts, law, and communications to name a few) and tangible media that reinforces climate and disaster risk issues and promotes local actions. By encouraging conversation on the social and environmental ramifications of not only one’s personal but also industrial choices, the world can begin to build green skills and contextual-based solutions.

According to research, if only 16% of high school students in high-and middle-income countries were to receive climate change education it would generate over 65 million new low-carbon jobs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 19 gigatons by the years 2030 and 2050 respectively. Furthermore, expanding investments at the intersection of sustainability and digitalization (especially with exciting developments in artificial intelligence) can work to establish many approaches to meet emission regulations, adopt renewable and clean energy, manage waste, and produce resilient products and services.

What can you do?

Level up your knowledge and stay up to date with the latest information, so you can better contribute within your capacity and spread more awareness within your space.

·       Be open and willing to learn and seek out knowledge, sharing what you know with those around you

·       Provide safe spaces for open discussions on climate change, sustainability, and its relevance to the fashion industry

·       Sign up for newsletters from NGOs and global organizations to stay up to date on all the important news and developments

·       Follow well-informed, influential pages, people, and community groups

·       Send an email, leave a comment or a review for the brands to share your concern for their environmental impact and encourage more transparency and awareness around their operations and processes

Target 4: Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible

Brooks related in his book, ‘Clothing Property: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-Hand Clothes’ how there exists a divide between the rich Global North and poorer Global South attributed to capitalism and its distribution. This has, in turn, greatly influenced fast fashion consumer patterns, the production of materials, and textile manufacturing.

Countries in the developing world have historically been the target of garment production, due to the abundance of easily available workers and resources. However, these exploits exert extensive economic, environmental, and social strain on the LMICs (also known as low-and middle-income countries) that produce about 90% of the globe’s clothing. Hostile working conditions and hours, below minimum wage pay, inadequate safety measures, synthetic and chemical toxins, and intensified build-up of textile waste, are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg for appeal-exporting countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and China.

Speaking of textile waste, this occurrence is not isolated to the fabrication process alone, but also to dumping post-wear. The Global North exports more than half of its used and donated (to charity, brand take-back schemes, and municipal recycling initiatives) clothes to countries in East and West Africa. In 2019, Kenya imported about 185 000 tons of second-hand clothes, of which about 30 to 40 percent possessed no resale market value and were essentially waste. This offsetting of fast fashion consequences onto the Global South, while seemly beneficial to the West, does not solve the worldwide crisis of discarded material. Instead, it streamlines climate risks into regions that have become so oversaturated with waste that, they too are unable to deal with it.

Looking to shift towards better sustainable standards and practices, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is one such commitment that developed nations can take up to financially support and assist developing countries. Pledging to mobilize and meet a collective 100 billion US dollars of funds per year, this fund hopes to invest in the transition and transformation of the third world, hence seeing a closing of the gap between the Global South and North. In building infrastructure, energy and industry, human security, livelihoods and well-being, land use, forests, and ecosystems, an unprecedented opportunity to improve the standard of the world as a whole and simultaneously promote climate resilience.

What can you do?

Develop your understanding of the situation within your country and how you contribute to or experience the effects of the fashion industry.

·       Advocate for more responsible production, use, and reuse of textiles

·       Look after your clothes and keep them for longer by repairing, repurposing, and upcycling them

·       Be mindful of where you donate your used and well-worn clothes as well as the condition in which you donate them

·       Save textile waste and donate it to recycling initiatives or companies that will repurpose it

·       Clean up your surrounding environment by picking up and properly discarding waste

Target 5: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least-developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth, and local and marginalized communities

The nuances between climate justice and social justice are inherently complex and intertwined. As such, both must be addressed in tandem.

As discussed in part under Target 4, the relationship between fashion companies selling in developed countries and their developing country suppliers are severely skewed and imbalanced. Competition amongst Asian producers is relentless, with three-quarters of the market more often than not vying for a single main purchaser to make one-third or more of their sales, according to a survey by the International Labour Organization (ILO). To maintain a competitive position, garment factories have to cut their prices, thus sacrificing employees' pay and working conditions in the process.

The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) reports that the average working times in clothing mills reach sixty or more hours a week, including compulsory night shifts, with only one day off per fortnight and no written record of employment conditions. A minimum wage hardly affords an adequate standard of living let alone subsidizes the risks to workers' health and lives from performing tasks with deficient protective equipment within ill-maintained sites. Owing to the lack of labour inspectors and intervention from trade unions (whose activities are often restricted, even when these bodies exist), it is not uncommon to find that the majority of workers are people from already marginalized groups, women in subordinate positions paid far less than their male peers and children as young as the age of 15.  Unfortunately, the true extent of situations in garment factories is only brought to public knowledge with catastrophic events like the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building which killed 1 100 workers and injured another 2500.

Statistically, the McKinsey survey shows that fashion executives placed a much higher priority on environmental aspects, such as using recycled materials, rather than social factors such as fair wages. Despite this, the concept of decent work, respect for fundamental human rights, adequate social protection, and social dialogue, is starting to take equal precedence, also appearing on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (see the blog post on SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and the Fashion Industry). Envisioning a world where fashion does not endanger or overwork anyone, auditing and detailed recommendation mechanisms are being designed to ensure that suppliers remain committed to meeting environmental and social standards, and that apparel companies do not buy from suppliers who abuse workers' rights.

What can you do?

Develop your understanding of the situation within your country and how you contribute to or experience the effects of the fashion industry.

·       Support campaigns like ‘Good Clothes Fair Pay’ if you live in the EU

·       Participate in events such as Fashion Revolution Week that remember industry disasters and work to maintain accords standards to ensure similar incidents don’t happen again in the future

·       Remain conscious of the consequences your clothing choices have on the environment and society and use this to inform your future purchases

·       Make transparency, ethical and fair work conditions, and responsible sourcing a priority for the companies you shop with

·       Be willing to pay a bit more to ensure fair wages

The window to avoid a climate catastrophe is rapidly closing, and without transformative cooperation and efforts from everyone, fashion moguls, consumers, brands, and corporations alike, the future of the planet remains uncertain. Now is the time to take climate action.

If you missed our previous educational works on SDGs 1-6, check out our Instagram! Try searching the hashtag #ThreadingChangexSDGs to see all of our informative posts in one spot.

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