Report: Global fashion sector will emit double its Paris Agreement limit by 2030

The global fashion sector is currently generating more emissions each year than the UK, Germany and France combined, and will fail to align with the Paris Agreement without transformational change over the next decade. That is according to new analysis from McKinsey and Global Fashion Agenda, entitled ‘Fashion on Climate’. The report calculated emissions from the global apparel and footwear industry in 2019, accounting for sources from raw material production to product disposal, to be 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2e, or 4% of the global total. This, in itself, makes fashion a higher emitter than aviation.

Researchers then forecast the likely growth of emissions from the industry through to 2030, taking into account megatrends such as population growth and e-commerce, concluding that an annual compound growth rate of 2.7% is likely on a business-as-usual trajectory. As such, the sector would be producing 2.7 billion tonnes of CO2e each year from 2030. In order to comply with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C trajectory, the research states, annual net emissions from the sector would need to fall below 1.1 billion tonnes by 2030.

They identified three key priority areas for action, based on their high emissions and the cost-effectiveness of abating emissions, namely upstream supply chain operations; direct operations and consumer behaviours. Acting on upstream emissions alone could deliver 61% of the reduction needed, the report states, with recommended actions including transitioning to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and minimising waste. Regarding consumer behaviour, the report encourages customer-facing fashion companies to create and scale up repair, resale and rental services, which minimise the material footprint of fashion while still generating a profit. At the same time, companies across the value chain must join up and accelerate efforts to bring textiles recycling infrastructure and systems to scale.

While many firms have time-bound targets for reaching 100% renewable energy in their operations, with several extending this commitment to the supply chain in the wake of the IPCC’s 2018 report, less action has been taken to combat overproduction and move to more resource-efficient business models. One piece of research found that the global fashion sector will need to use 75% less virgin resources in 2030 than it did in 2018 if it wishes to align with the Paris Agreement and to stop over-extracting natural resources.

Source. edie.net