Fashion industries are contributing around 10% of the total global emission along with severe earth, water, and air pollutions and unfortunately, we are far away from the fashion decarbonization pathway 2030. It is observed that a significant number of fashion brands yet not signed the UN Fashion Charter and many of their supply chains are full of subsidized fossil fuel based dirty energies. There are no dedicated financial and instrumental support system developed for a just fashion transition.
While it comes to the fashion decarbonization commitment, the first concern is the existing UN fashion charter fails to consider fundamental human rights of fashion workers in finding sectoral transition. Furthermore, there are controversary between the brands and suppliers in terms of their shared responsibilities towards the decarbonization pathway where LDC manufacturers always claims that they are getting deprived through an unhealthy market competition and renewable energy technologies being used as a business opportunity for the developed nations.
Based on our decade long experience, Oxfam and partners identified some key adjustments are fundamental to move forward with the global mandate of the UN fashion charter -
- Business and fashion groups should agree to a separate funding and instrumental support system under the UNFCCC that can help less developed countries (LDC) suppliers to find a practical solution towards their energy transition to limit warming to 1.5 degrees and can ensure transparency and accountability of business groups under the CBDR principle.
- Business and fashion groups must agree to actively incorporate fundamental human rights and workers’ interests into the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and integrate these voices into signatory members’ climate transition plans to create just transition plans. Currently, the voices of workers and frontline communities are missing, despite being the most vulnerable to the impacts of the industry’s failure to cut emissions.
- Fashion groups should agree to prepare country specific energy transition roadmaps that outline the challenges and opportunities related to current decarbonization strategies, delineate the shared responsibilities of fashion groups and manufacturers, and actively include meaningful space for worker representatives to represent their interests.
- Developed country parties should agree to prepare a separate guideline under the UNFCCC to ensure an integrated, holistic and balanced non-market approach for supporting LDCs with appropriate technology transfer and capacity building, instead of creating unfair business opportunities which further disadvantage LDC businesses.
- Fashion groups must agree to create a stable and supportive business environment for green producers with fair prices and necessary policy arrangements to avoid unfair competition with the manufacturers enjoying fossil fuel subsidies.
- Business groups and country parties should commit ambitious investment in COP 28 for the establishment of a strong public narrative and awareness building with textile and RMG manufacturing companies in favor of a just transition.