UN Climate Change News, 10 December 2019, Madrid, Spain – During the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 in Madrid, a group of 86 fashion companies has issued a public call to political leaders around the world to partner with them to deliver effective and ambitious climate action, as part of an event celebrating one year of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action.

The Communique calls for a partnership with political leaders of countries with major fashion production and consumer markets, to create enabling policy environments that will bring the industry in line with the goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

“The climate crisis is one of the most important issues to tackle. As a global fashion retailer, we have a big role to play and collaboration is key,” said CEO H&M Group Karl-Johan Persson. “All actors need to take responsibility to drive the change towards cutting emissions and staying within planetary boundaries. Companies need to commit to this change and governments need to facilitate the process with the right laws, regulations and implementation thereof.”

The communique also identifies some concrete solutions related to renewable energy and calls for clear planning context for investment plans, availability of scaled-up grid-connected renewable energy sources, phasing-out of high-emitting fossil fuel-based sources of energy and incentives for transition to renewables.

It is supported by all fashion charter companies and championed by CEOs of Aldo Group, Burberry, Esprit Group, H&M Group, Nike Inc., Puma SE, PVH Corp. and nine CEOs from brands, suppliers and retailers.

“The consequences of climate change are real for all of us. Nike is on our own journey toward a zero carbon and zero waste future, but we know to accelerate progress we need collective action across our industry,” said Mark Parker, Chairman, President and CEO, NIKE Inc. “We’re proud to be part of the coalition of leaders in the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action committed to working towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

At the event held at the UN Climate Change annual conference (COP25) in Madrid, some of the biggest brands in fashion took to the stage to reaffirm their commitment to achieving at least 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the whole value chain by 2030, to scale renewable energy and climate programmes in key textile production countries, to set an ambitious sector decarbonization pathway, and to work in partnership with policymakers.

Charter members recognize that current solutions and business models are not sufficient to deliver on the urgent need for climate action and have initiated an action-oriented roadmap to create mechanisms that will scale technical transformation within value chains, identify financial tools to fund that transformation, and enhance collaboration with policymakers.

“This Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action communique is a very important signal to policy makers around the world on the necessity to have the right framework to enable and promote actions to reduce our level of carbon emissions. As a manufacturer based on the small island of Mauritius, we are probably the most concerned with climate change,” said Kendall Tang, Chief Executive Officer of RT Knits. “We are changing our business model fundamentally. From sourcing, to production and going through design, we are reviewing every step of our current practices to reduce our energy consumption or replace it with renewable sources.”

The Fashion Industry Charter brings together not only fashion brands, but manufacturers and retailers, logistic and investment companies, NGOs and media companies, and seeks to expand concrete engagement with all actors across the supply chain to transform to a sustainable industry.

At the recent British Fashion Awards, the British Fashion Council and the United Nations Office for Partnerships recognized the unprecedented mobilization of the fashion industry by the Charter and bestowed the British Fashion Award for Positive Change on the signatories of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action.