UN Climate Change News, 15 September 2020 – Today sees the launch of the first Playbook for Climate Action, developed by the Fashion Industry Charter Signatories for the industry stakeholders. The Playbook is a living guide to enable all actors of the Fashion industry to identify what climate actions to take and which initiatives and programmes could support them in undertaking their decarbonization journey.
This Playbook is primarily intended for less experienced fashion companies that have not yet taken action on climate change, but want to join the sector to deliver net zero emissions by 2050. The Playbook will increase their level of understanding of climate change and provide a roadmap to guide their actions.
"We developed this playbook for small and medium companies in our industry. It will also be helpful for larger companies when reaching out to their supply chain partners. Together, and only together, we have a unique opportunity through the Charter to make this the decade of ambition and collaboration for climate action. We hope that this playbook will be a useful tool to rally everyone in our industry behind the goals of the Paris Agreement," said Stefan Seidel, Chair of the Fashion Charter Steering Committee and Head of Corporate Sustainability at PUMA.
The Playbook is equally valuable for larger and / or more experienced companies - including those with approved science-based targets (SBTs) - as they need to bring their suppliers along on the journey. The Playbook is not meant for companies for which fashion is a minor portion of their business, for example chemical manufacturers.
“Fashion can play a valuable role in inspiring other sectors and society at large to lead the way towards a healthy and prosperous planet for all. The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action is a collective and collaborative effort to drive the fashion industry to net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. While the Charter is focused on climate change, it is important to note that its signatories see the imperative for addressing the broader set of UN Sustainable Development Goals.”, said Niclas Svenningsen, Head of Global Climate Action at the UN Climate Change secretariat.
The fashion sector is a significant source of GHG emissions, and faces growing risks from increasing emissions and the resulting changes in climate, such as water scarcity, facilities and infrastructure threatened by more frequent and severe climate events, price volatility of raw material, and much more.
To address these risks, and to support the goals of the Paris Agreement, the UN Climate Change secretariat convened the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action initiative, gathering actors from across the fashion value chain - raw material producers, textile producers, apparel manufacturers, and brands alike, as well as other organizations, to align and decide on a holistic set of commitments on climate action for the fashion sector, including reducing emissions to net zero by 2050.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nearly 200 nations committed to limit global temperature increase to well below 2°C and strive to limit the increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that provides strong evidence that limiting warming below 1.5°C will significantly reduce climate impacts including drought, sea level rise, flooding, and extreme heat. This level of ambition will require significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the economy: 45% by 2030 and net zero by 2050. It is therefore imperative that all actors of society, governmental and non-governmental, take action on climate change.
Charter signatories provide an inspiring example of how collaborative action can be undertaken to work on a decarbonization pathway by looking at raw materials, manufacturing, logistics and enablers such as finance and policy. They have clarified that the overall goal of the Fashion Charter is to drive the sector to net zero emissions no later than by 2050.
See Playbook for Climate Action here.