We are crossing a divide into a new world where the role of business is changing. It must change for the sake of forests, orangutans, blue whales, coral reefs, the snowy owl, and humans – our dear ones – sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, as well as the young and old around the world.
Just this minute, my daughter sent me an audio recording of the heartbeat of our newest grandson due in a few months. In this, my heart of hearts, the need for change grows more urgent by the day.
While this is no small task, rapidly, and wisely, evolving the impacts and contributions of business is essential to put us on the path to a thriving, not dying, biosphere.
We are gifted one fertile planet. We will flourish together or fail together.
The realization is beginning to take hold that what regenerates the planet also generates profit and long-term health for business. Encouragingly, evidence is mounting that many wise leaders, from start-ups to multi-nationals, are rethinking, reshaping, and reinventing business. Certified as B Corps and Green Business, companies address the future and global impacts of today’s decisions. Learning from real-time data patterns, anticipating trends to inform decision making, restructuring supply chains, and prioritizing social and environmental responsibility - innovative leaders stand for a positive contribution to the larger community.
A circular economic model is the only way forward. The fashion industry, both apparel and footwear, is one place where real innovation and change is both needed and possible.
In 2019 The World Bank wrote that the fashion industry is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry's greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030.
The New Scientist published an article in June of this year titled Fast Fashion is ruining the planet – here’s how to make it sustainable”. The first years of fast fashion fed impulse purchases of low-priced, low-quality clothes, tempting consumers to buy more than they need or even want. “From a business perspective, this model has been hugely successful. But from an environmental one, it is an abject failure.”
Fast fashion costs us our future. According to a joint report produced by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and The Circular Fibres Initiative, “Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned.” 90 million tons of worn out, unwanted or unsold clothes are discarded every year. 85 percent of litter on beaches is textile waste. Every year the fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water — enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people.
According to the UN, textile production dumps a total of half a million tons of microplastics pollution into the ocean each year. As the New Scientist article continued, “Unchecked, the fashion industry alone will produce a quarter of the carbon dioxide we can afford to emit by 2050 if we are to have a chance of staying below 2°C of warming. Definitely not cool.”
What is already in motion to reduce the carbon footprint of the apparel and footwear industry? Below is good news on two companies as well as a promising industry-wide initiative.
Companies like Eileen Fisher and Patagonia share a vision for a future without waste. Their marketing outlines specific steps they are taking to cut emissions throughout the supply chain - from sourcing to manufacturing to worker health to communities to shipping to re-use/re-purpose.
Both companies act as stewards with a new retail model of producing less while advancing the circular economy.
Designing clothes to last, they center all operations around a fundamental principle of circular by design. New clothes are sustainably sourced, manufactured and shipped. Their percentage increases yearly of organic cottons, accredited no-harm down, and assembly factories that pay a living wage. Then they take back clothes to be resold, donated, repaired, or remade into new designs. Eileen Fisher has taken back over 1.5 million pieces in the past 13 years. 72% of Patagonia’s line uses recycled material.
This is an entirely different way to do business: using it to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. Making clothes in a way that mirrors a lifetime commitment to customers, and to the planet.
Ultimately though, changing company by company isn’t fast enough. Strategic partnerships between key stakeholders are essential for removing barriers to deep supply chain implementation and addressing industry ‘hot spots.’
Where is the leverage for scaled implementation across the system? The key is collaboration between key value chain partners (such as brands, funders, retailers, factories, governments, NGOs, and consumers) in partnership with the financial and operational resources to successfully scale innovations.
One of my long term clients, Lewis Perkins, and his team at The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) identify, fund, and scale proven environmental solutions in the fashion industry. They’ve discovered that best impact improvement solutions often exist but lack the substantive funding to become viable commercial investments. Innovative solutions keep inventors awake at night but lack the early support to test and pilot.
Aii just announced a $250M Fashion Climate Fund uniting brands, philanthropic donors, and industry stakeholders. To date, lead funders include Lululemon, H & M Group, H & M Foundation, HSBC, The Schmidt Family Foundation, and more. Pioneering a collaborative funding model, the Fund is designed to unlock an estimated $2B in additional asset classes, including debt and equity, to help halve apparel industry carbon emissions by 2030.
The science behind their work is fascinating, and applicable to other industries. In 2021, Fashion For Good (FGG) and Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) co-authored “Unlocking The Trillion-Dollar Fashion Decarbonisation Opportunity,” Report, which for the first time, charts a trajectory for the fashion industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The report maps 4 tiers of emissions (the highest % is surprising) and solutions focused on these tiers. They also break down the financing and funders, mapping a clear path of action for the future.
Embedded in these examples of creativity, innovation, collaboration, and enterprise are the new models and mindsets for how we think and operate in a world that has fundamentally changed. Wise leaders and organizations that integrate these changes into strategic planning, internal communications, operations, and management will be best placed for the future.
We face a choice every day: continue to deplete resources and rob from the future or participate in the path of regenerative evolution where the vitality of our beautiful world continues for the many generations to come.
Business innovations for global good are happening everywhere. Let’s rivet our attention, our dollars, and our leadership to accelerate the transformation in business as an active and wise agent of world benefit.
Interested in making a difference today? Decide on how many garments you’ll buy this year. One friend says 11 is her max. Another says 5 and someone else, 25. When you buy, check out the supply chain. Look at the green fashion rating website Good On You. Ask questions. Look for the B Corp certification.
As the role of business is changing – we can also personally support focused programs addressing the endangered on our planet I mentioned in the first paragraph. Click on one of these below to see how we can be part of the solution in small and large ways.
· Forests