Report 2021: Focus on the Fashion Industry
Business for Ocean Sustainability: One Ocean Foundation's multi-year research on the Blue Economy
Image by ©Kurt Arrigo
This report represents the continuation of the journey undertaken with the two previous publications “Business for Ocean Sustainability - Focus on the Mediterranean” and “Business for Ocean Sustainability - A Global Perspective”, published in 2019 and 2020 respectively, developed thanks to the contribution of SDA Bocconi Sustainability Lab, McKinsey & Company and CSIC.
In particular, this study stems from “Business for Ocean Sustainability – a Global Perspective” and deep-dives into a specific industrial sector: the fashion industry. It uses an in-depth analysis of the sustainability reports of 28 major fashion companies and multiple sources: academic publications, statistical data, government reports and practitioner-based literature.
The insights offer a snapshot of the fashion industry’s main pressures on the environment and, more specifically, on marine ecosystems, and provides a clear view of sustainable best practices along the value chain.
The fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest manufacturing industries. It generates more than USD 2.5 trillion in global annual revenues1, employing more than 300 million people along its value chain2. Besides its relevance in the global economy, the industry plays a fundamental role in social and cultural life. From an environmental point of view, the industry presents numerous critical issues which are still not fully known. According to several studies, fashion is considered one of the most polluting industries in the world3.
According to our findings, the pressures exerted by the sector on the environment are worsened by several structural and generational phenomena such as population growth and increasing wealth, and new business models such as fast fashion. Key pressures include extreme water usage, chemicals and waterways contamination, waste and pollution including microplastics, and energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the analysis we carried out in Business for Ocean Sustainability – A Global Perspective, which analyzed the level of pressure exerted by 17 industrial sectors on each of the 11 GES indicators through the involvement of a panel of experts and scientists4, the textile and apparel industry shows higher criticality with respect to the problems of marine litter, eutrophication and contaminants (including contaminants in seafood).
In fact the fashion industry creates a huge amount of marine litter in the form of microfibers, which are flooding our oceans and becoming toxic; many marine ecosystems are affected by the eutrophication processes which occur during the cultivation of raw materials for the fashion industry; and cultivation and processing of raw materials cause the release of contaminants into the oceans and freshwater systems.
Our studies reveal that a collaborative effort along the value chain is fundamental to achieve sustainable transformation in the fashion industry. To effectively lower their impact, firms need to gather together and coordinate their environmentally conscious practices within an overall sustainability strategy (which, in turn, should be coherent with the company’s general strategy). A holistic approach is required in order to address the many challenges that arise along the extended value chain, from raw materials extraction to product disposal, and to plan specific actions aimed at reducing overconsumption of natural resources and pollution.
The report introduces a framework which visually summarizes such an approach by illustrating a strategic planning process, deep-diving into the implementation of activities along the value chain, and describing support tools and key features. This framework aims to create awareness with regard to the opportunities related to each step of the supply chain. Any firm can reduce its pressure on the ocean at each stage, both by implementing best practices within its operations, and by collaborating with stakeholders along the value chain.
For each step of the value chain, the report provides examples of virtuous companies which are already implementing best practices within their operations.
The report provides a view of the key issues that companies in this sector need to acknowledge and act upon promptly. More specifically, the report provides an understanding of critical areas with respect to marine ecosystems, with a distinction between direct and indirect pressures by companies, and systematizes existing best practices to understand the relationships between the various activities and the corresponding effects.
In general, as identified in the previous reports, leading companies committed to sustainability and aware of their pressures on the ocean also exist in the fashion industry, and they adopt innovative supply chain practices to mitigate their pressures on the ocean. However, there is vast room for improvement.
