Our vision
Our vision is to enable a socially inclusive and planet positive textile industry. To get there, we focus our work on supporting the industry in halving its greenhouse gas emissions every decade by 2050, while promoting a just and fair transition for both people and the planet.
What does a just and decarbonised textile industry look like? We believe it is an industry where our consumption patterns have drastically changed. It’s not about buying more, but buying better. We own fewer garments, and those we own are designed to last – repaired, reused and resold multiple times. The linear fashion model has been replaced by circular ones, generating zero-waste.
It is an industry where every step of textile production, from growing materials to manufacturing them, is powered by renewable energy. Supply chains have been restructured to minimise carbon emissions, with localised production hubs. The use of water and toxic chemicals in manufacturing has been drastically reduced thanks to impactful innovations.
It is an industry where automation and digitalization have not left workers behind. Instead, millions of textile workers – especially women – have been upskilled to take on roles in advanced manufacturing and sustainable technologies. The transition has created millions of new jobs throughout the textile value chain, and fair wages, safe working conditions, and social protections have made the industry equitable, transforming the lives of workers and communities around the world.
Is this possible?
Yes. And thanks to scientists and experts we already know how to do it.
To limit the most severe impacts of climate change and support a fair transition, the Carbon Law suggests that global emissions must halve every decade until 2050 to stay well below 2 degrees Celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement. As a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, the textile industry must act with urgency to halve its emissions by 2030 – an essential first step toward achieving net-zero by 2050.
However, reducing emissions alone is not enough. We do not want to get a carbon tunnel vision, in which we only focus on reaching net-zero emissions while ignoring other relevant climate impacts. Climate change is not an isolated challenge, it affects everything. Therefore, the transition must be done holistically with both people and planet in mind and make sure that when solving one problem, we don’t cause other problems somewhere else.
This is also the rationale behind the Earth4All framework, which emphasises that to reach net-zero, we must first ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met, such as eliminating poverty or empowering women. It’s about transforming the system we all rely on to create a fair and equitable future, while respecting the limits of our planet’s resources.
These are the frameworks that our work leans on, and this is why we have chosen to focus on supporting the textile industry to halve its emissions every decade, while promoting a just and fair transition for both people and the planet.
