Threats To The Environment, New Issues In The Fashion Industry Agenda

Concerns about climate change have become a hot topic today.

The hot topic has become the top priority of the World Economic Forum annual discussion in Davos.

Environmental issues are usually the key to the most urgent geopolitical and financial issues discussed by politicians and business people. This year, environmental issues have been quietly on the agenda. Many fashion people have joined the hot topic.

On Wednesday, at a luxury luncheon held at the Swiss ski resort, executives from companies like ASOS and H&M formally joined Global Fashion Agenda, a sustainable development advocacy group that aims to issue annual priorities for executives of global apparel brands.

This year, for the first time, the organization tackled climate change as a top priority, as well as improving the traceability of the supply chain, improving the working environment and the use of water, energy and chemicals.

Despite the complexity and opacity of the global supply chain, it is difficult to quantify the impact of the fashion industry on the environment. But a report released last year by the environmental sustainability Consulting Group Quantis estimated that the global clothing and footwear industry accounted for about 8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, almost equal to the overall climate of the European Union.

"This is quite an astonishing number," said Eva Kruse, chief executive of Global Fashion Agenda. "This figure requires the whole industry to take corresponding actions to change."

Kruse is primarily responsible for providing senior managers with guidelines in the most important areas to improve the industry's strategy for sustainable development.

When people are increasingly aware of the negative impact of fashion on the environment, businesses are facing increasing pressure from consumers, investors and regulators to provide a more sustainable business model.

According to this year's global fashion format report, 90% of Z generation consumers feel that the company is responsible for solving environmental and social problems.

Big brands such as Patagonia and Stella McCartney have proved for many years that strong attention to sustainable development can be a noticeable business case.

But more and more companies are strengthening their activities in this field, emphasizing their moral qualifications on their websites, and signing international initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of the industry.

This is partly because climate change has brought a very real business risk to the industry.

According to the annual global risk report released last week by the world economic forum, the interruption of production and delivery of goods and services due to environmental disasters has increased by 29% since 2012.

The report said: "in all risks, the most obvious environmental risk is that the world is walking towards disaster."

Climate change has had a negative impact on key raw materials such as cotton and wool, resulting in fluctuations in quality and price.

The luxury industry relies on the supply of high-end materials, which are often produced in limited locations and quantities - especially vulnerable to climate change. Climate change may damage major production areas.

A report released in 2015 by Kering and Business for Social Responsibility found that climate change has reduced the yield and quality of cotton crops and led to a decline in quality cashmere production in Mongolia.

"Cotton and cashmere will certainly be directly affected by climate change," Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer of Kai Yun group, said in an interview.

To deal with this problem is not only a moral obligation, but also a good business sense.

Extreme weather events also affect the profitability of enterprises.

Florence Allday, an analyst at Euromonitor International, said last year that retailers in Western Europe were busy managing seasonal stocks because of the extreme weather after a winter storm called the wild animal from the East.

"This unpredictability is a nightmare for fashion retailers, especially the fast fashion brands that collectively produce cheap goods," Allday said.

Increasing awareness and increasing external and internal pressures are gradually contributing to the industry's action.

At the end of last year, a group of 43 brands, retailers, suppliers and other parties, in collaboration with the United Nations, launched an intra industry climate action charter.

Those contracted companies, including luxury group such as Kai Yun, and fast fashion companies like H&M and Zara's parent company Inditex agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.

In other ways, enterprises are taking individual measures to improve their environmental impact, some of which are becoming global leaders.

On Tuesday, Corporate Knights, a Toronto based media company, ranked the world's second largest sustainable development company in its annual corporate sustainability list.

Other fashion companies including Adidas (Adidas) and Inditex have made progress in key performance indicators such as resource management, staff management, financial management and supply business performance.

Nevertheless, the progress of the whole industry is still slow.

In many companies, sustainability is still a matter of hindsight. Global Fashion Agenda estimates that about half of the industry does not take any action on this issue.

The question now is whether higher awareness will plate into greater action.

"Everyone is watching the industry," Kruse said. "We are making a voice today to help the remaining half, and do not know how to start preparing for the business."