Transforming the Fashion Industry Through Collaborative Goal-Oriented Policy and Legislation
As concerns about climate change continue to mount, the world’s largest fashion brands are making bold commitments to reduce their environmental footprint and take meaningful action to address the industry’s contribution to the climate crisis. However, what’s largely been missing is accountability.
For years the fashion industry has mainly been accountable to itself, relying on voluntary commitments to tackle its negative impact on people and planet. However, despite some increased efforts, greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, garment workers are still being exploited, brands are still overproducing, and ultra-fast fashion giants are growing.
Activists have long warned that relying on voluntary action to address social and environmental impact is misguided. Many believe a system where profit-driven companies can set their own benchmarks with little accountability will never be enough to create transformative change. Instead, an unwavering shared commitment is needed to achieve tangible progress — and that commitment will only come from economic incentives and government regulation.
“Fashion’s social and environmental problems are systemic. We need systemic solutions, including new laws, to solve them. The government is one of the key forces in society with the power to completely change the rules of fashion so that ecosystems and people can thrive,” said Elizabeth Cline, Director of Advocacy and Policy at Remake. “New laws are key to leveling the playing field in fashion so that responsible businesses have a fair shot at competing, workers can make a dignified living, and the ‘race to the bottom’ in fashion is brought to an end.”
The Fashion Act, which was introduced in January, and the European Commission's recently published Green Deal proposals indicate that the fashion industry may have to start playing by new rules whether companies want to or not.
Tighter regulation will not only demand greater transparency, but it will also require companies to take control of their supply chains, create stricter marketing parameters and force brands to increase efforts to measure their environmental and social footprint.
“The success of the fashion industry is largely predicated on a lack of policy and regulations regarding transparency, supply chain management, etc.,” said Whitney McGuire, attorney, and co-founder of Sustainable Brooklyn. “Any regulation or policy that incentivizes the industry to collectively change its behavior will contribute to the overall sustainability of people, the planet, and resources.”
As governments begin mapping the regulation and policy proposals that could move the sector toward a more sustainable future, how can the fashion industry collaborate with governments to design and implement rigorous, goal-oriented legislation that incentivizes and promotes significant economic and societal change?
We’ve highlighted two policy-focused sessions you won’t want to miss during our 2022 lineup to explore this and more.
#AskUsAnything: New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act Q&A
In January, the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (or Fashion Act) was unveiled: a bill many are calling a “groundbreaking” and “historic” step towards bringing accountability to the fashion industry and holding the biggest brands accountable for their environmental and social impacts.
If signed into law, the Fashion Act would require all major apparel and footwear companies from LVMH to Shein that generate $100 million in global revenue and do business in the state of New York to map a minimum of 50% of their supply chain by volume across all stages of production, “from raw material to final production.” Under the proposed bill, companies would be required to pinpoint where they have the greatest environmental and social impact in their supply chain, including energy use, greenhouses gas emissions, water use, and chemical management. Additionally, the bill would require brands to disclose the annual volume of material produced, broken down by type, and set and meet Science Based Targets to ensure that they are cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
On the social side, brands would be required to disclose the median wages for workers measured against local minimum and living wages, as well as outline their approach to incentivize fair treatment and workers’ rights.
What does the Fashion Act mean for the global industry? How can brands comply with the proposed bill? What happens if brands fail to meet the requirements? Is disclosure enough to truly hold the industry accountable?
NY State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (Prime Senate Sponsor of the bill) and Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute (a key drafter of the bill), are hitting the SFF digital mainstage for an exclusive #AskUsAnything session to spill the tea on everything you want to know about the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act and more!
#PolicyGoals: How Can Policy Enable and Unify Circular Systems Across Markets?
Motivated by the threat of limited resources and a growing concern among consumers about the environmental impact of their purchases, the fashion industry is embracing the idea of circular fashion. If fashion could adopt a closed-loop system, materials would be endlessly reused and recycled, thus eliminating waste and pollution by limiting the extractive production of virgin raw materials, regenerating natural systems, and decreasing textile waste.
Achieving an industry-wide circular system is a lofty ambition that will take large-scale innovation, significant funding to decouple revenue from production from raw material production, and government support.
What is the government’s role in accelerating the industry’s transition to a circular economy? How can governments stimulate demand for circularity at the consumer and industry level? How can we unify solutions and implement an economy-wide transition to hold the industry to similar standards regardless of location?
Join WWD Sustainability Reporter Kaley Roshitsh for a conversation with Author, Journalist, and Director of Advocacy and Policy at Remake, Elizabeth Cline; and Whitney McGuire, attorney, and co-founder of Sustainable Brooklyn, about the government's role in enabling circularity through policy.
