THE world’s poorest workers must be at the heart of plans to make the fashion industry sustainable to prevent them losing out in corporate-driven green pledges, a new War on Want report said today.
The anti-poverty charity said “fast fashion” spews up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse emissions as well as bogus greenwashing claims that pit workers’ rights and environmental movements against each other.
Arguing that those who depend on the industry must not lose out to profit-driven lip service of cutting production, it said only unionised garment-makers and communities bearing the brunt of climate change can lead and design a fair transformation of the industry.
“There cannot be justice in a future that puts the needs of garment workers anywhere but the centre, along with the farmers producing cotton and the homeworkers who are often hidden from consumer view,” the Fashioning the Future report stated.
“This is why intentions behind a just transition for the fashion industry must be rooted in global, purposeful, solidarity between movements of workers, and social and environmental movements.
“Any just transition must recognise and redress the harms already done through centuries of colonial-style enterprise that have stolen wealth, resources and labour from global South countries.”
Finding that estimates of its global greenhouse gas emission vary from 1.8 per cent up to 10 per cent, it added: “For an industry that overwhelmingly produces non-essential items, if either of these figures is correct, it is far too high.
“Trade unions can help to ensure that a degrowth-based transition is not only environmentally sustainable, but also socially and economically just. In this way, trade unions are critical to achieving a just and sustainable future for all.”
War on Want’s director of campaigns Liz McKean and report co-author said: “The global fashion industry is accelerating climate breakdown, and driving profound inequality, poverty and exploitation.
“Transforming the fashion industry means changing our societies through radical action — debt cancellation, climate reparations, fair taxation, living wages and legally binding regulations applied to powerful multinational corporations.”
Fellow co-author and journalist Tansy Hoskins said: “We must protect workers’ rights and economic livelihoods while reimagining a fashion industry that works for the planet, as part of a justice-based — not profit-centred — transition.
“A truly sustainable fashion industry is one that doesn’t wreck our planet or impoverish and exploit the people in it. It is possible.”
Oxfam’s climate change policy adviser Lyndsay Walsh said: “The fashion industry accounts for 10 per cent of global CO2 emissions — more than international aviation and shipping combined.
“The science is clear — we have just six years left to urgently and significantly reduce carbon emissions, and tackle climate change, which is already causing untold suffering.
“Buying second-hand is one way that, together, we can contribute to reducing waste, save money at a time when the cost of living is high, and most importantly strive for a more sustainable fashion industry.”
Greenpeace Germany’s Viola Wohlgemuth added: “Fashion needs to cut out the greenwash and concentrate on the fundamentals — facts and figures, transparency and traceability — the true bottom line when it comes to tackling the multiple planetary crises and the only possible basis for credible change.”
Annemiek Smits, of Solidaridad Network, said: “Smallholder cotton farmers make up the majority of the world’s cotton producers while living on the edge of poverty.
“The majority do not receive a fair income or wage, and have no access to training nor any support for climate adaptation.”
Ellie Chowns, Green Party parliamentary candidate for North Herefordshire and former MEP, said: “We need to recognise that fast fashion isn’t cheap — someone or something somewhere is paying for it.
“We have known for decades that much of the fast fashion we see on our high streets is made in countries with limited or non-existent workers’ rights.”
