by Paris — As world leaders leave this year’s COP29, fashion is keeping up too.
The presidents of France, Germany, India and the US, and the head of the European Union, are some of the high-profile absentees at this round of annual UN climate talks, with countries such as Papua New Guinea without block it all.
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Industry organizations such as the Global Fashion Agenda will not be attending, and the organization will instead focus on its gala in Shanghai, which took place last week, and its upcoming summit in Copenhagen, which will focus on collective action solutions.
UK-based NGO Fashion Revolution is applauding from afar. “We are all tired of the talk and the promise, time is running out and we urgently need action,” the group said. Instead it is asking brands to invest 2 percent of their revenue to switch to renewable energy and clean up their supply chains.
Kering and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton are also sitting this round, as well as luxury brands such as Stella McCartney, who showed next-generation materials last year.
Kering launched a new initiative during the UN biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia, last month, and LVMH is preparing to participate in the UN conference on deserts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December.
Brands and organizations have indicated they are aware of the calls to boycott this year’s round of talks due to its controversial location in Baku, Azerbaijan. The country, known as a petrostate, is a major fossil fuel producer and has a record of arresting journalists and activists protesting its government.
But as extreme weather events become more common, causing infrastructure destruction and supply chain disruptions, industry organizations have highlighted the need for the fashion industry to continue to engage with policy makers and financiers to support and finance systemic change.
NGO Canopy, which works with brands to stop the sourcing of viscose and other wood-based materials made from ancient and endangered forests, focused its efforts this year on New York’s Climate Week earlier this year, as well as a biodiversity conference of the UN, which was involved. held in October.
“We saw many brands actively engaging with COP16 and an increased number of brands. With the industry’s growing recognition of the importance of nature and biodiversity conservation, it was a positive outcome for COP29 to be hosted by another petrochemical state,” said Canopy executive director Nicole Rycroft.
A spokesperson for one major brand sitting out this round said that “having a presence at a conference that was overshadowed by controversy doesn’t help,” and that multiple climate conferences were held in quick succession they would risk spreading themselves too thin.
“Lower attendance does not reflect the importance of corporate action in our sector, nor does it reflect a lack of brand commitment to climate action. Brand leaders know that traditional ‘take, make, waste’ supply chains are becoming more volatile due to the climate crisis increasing the frequency and severity of fires, floods and droughts,” said Rycroft.
“The implications for pricing, quality and secure supply in the next three to 10 years are game-changing. The brands and many of the producers we work with are leaning in rather than out,” she said.
As COP29 officially began on Tuesday and world leaders addressed the convention, UN leaders framed the fight against climate change as an economic one, and highlighted how extreme weather events are disrupting global supply chains and damaging infrastructure, among other major impacts on lives. and the environment.
In his foreword, COP executive secretary Simon Stiell set it out as a way to speak to businesses and consumers, particularly those concerned about inflation.
“The climate crisis is quickly becoming an economic killer, right now, today, in this political cycle,” he said. “The climate crisis is a cost-of-living crisis, because climate disasters are raising costs for families and businesses.”
Apparel Impact Institute president and chief executive officer Lewis Perkins agreed that there will be less of a fashion presence this year, but said it’s still a big opportunity to “put our voice into other circles outside of fashion.”
The industry should continue to engage and collaborate with governments, non-governmental organizations, philanthropic organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation, as well as the banks and investment funds that will be present, especially at the edition of called “the Finance COP”.
For example, Henrik Sundberg, H&M’s head of climate impact, will be speaking at two panels on decarbonisation on Saturday, along with Perkins.
“We know the elephant in the room is overproduction [and] volume waste,” Perkins said. But it showed that established mass retailers such as H&M and Inditex are making investments in next-generation materials, recycling technology and moving to renewable energy that have the potential to transform the industry. “If they get it right, all the models, the consumer-oriented models, the sharing economy, the circular economy and the clean production, then it sets the stage for everyone else.”
H&M, along with Inditex, Kering and Stella McCartney, were the main signatories of the Canopy joint purchase agreement unveiled at COP in 2022, and the Swedish group launched its collaborative financial tool at last year’s edition.
“We see many of the same brands consistently step up – that needs to change. To transform these long, linear, extractive supply chains requires all hands on deck….It’s not moving nearly fast enough, and we haven’t seen the foundation of brands needed to transform the value chain,” said Rycroft.
Much of that transition will come from policy initiatives that support transition financing, such as tax breaks and subsidies for innovators, public-private research and development, and purchase incentives for brands.
The industry is making progress with new materials and textile recycling, but those are often put into capsule collections and not put into mainstream production, Perkins said.
They have also publicized heavy decarbonisation targets. “But the reality is they’re not backing that up with sourcing and purchasing decisions,” he said, leaving suppliers in the financial lurch and reluctant to make additional investments.
The small but progressive COPs focused on biodiversity and deserts also add to the conversation, but as initiatives move around, buzzwords such as biodiversity, regenerative agriculture and circularity are pushed to the fore as “the next big thing,” which which could avoid attracting attention. from a larger goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Perkins added.
“It’s really important that the industry sees a follow-up on the commitments they made before they move on to the others. It is a well-known sector [for it] because of the marketing. At the end of the day, brands are really product marketing engines,” he said, urging companies to look at the big picture. “[Brands] who can kind of swing with the trends, rather than saying, ‘Sure, that’s all, and they’re all interconnected.”
“We’re in system change mode,” Perkins said as the industry undergoes critical, fundamental reforms. Brands attending COP need to know what’s working, where they’re falling short and long-term goals and engage candidly with other attendees. “Those of you in the room, whether you’re coming from investment banking or government, how can you join us?”
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