Fashion Briefing: At COP28, fashion leaders are discussing ‘sustainability 3.0’ and investments in energy

“Sustainability 3.0 means codifying change at a legislative level,” said George Harding-Rolls, advocacy director at strategy consultancy Eco Age. “If, as a brand, you can help legislators understand that this ambition is possible and desirable, from your perspective, and codify that into the law, then you’re going to level the playing field and help the whole industry move together.”

LVMH, Eco-Age and the Global Fashion Agenda are present at the event. And with more oil and gas lobbyists than ever before, the event is proving to be contentious.

“There is a more or less an inevitable decline of fossil fuel usage for things like energy and transport, largely led by [the emergence of] renewables and electric vehicles,” said Harding-Rolls. “That’s just not the case in [the areas] of fashion, textiles and packaging, and we need to raise awareness about that.” 

While both the E.U. and the U.S are putting forward regulations for plastics, they do not extend to plastic-based fabrics in athleisure, shoes and other fashion products. Nearly two-thirds of all clothing is made from plastics such as polyester, nylon, acrylic and elastane. As a result, Eco Age is taking to COP28 to promote its Fossil Fuel Fashion campaign, calling for a phase-out of such fossil-fuel-based materials.

In fact, in terms of fashion-focused conversations, materials innovation has been front and center at COP. In partnership with LVMH, Stella McCartney is hosting a “Sustainable Market” showcase for the duration of the conference to present natural material innovations. These include plant-based fur from BioFluff and a grape-based leather alternative and sequins made from tree cellulose, among other materials. The designer also took the opportunity to raise the issue that non-leather products are taxed at 30% or more and to call for leather tariffs. Currently, leather products are not taxed, as a result of leather lobbying over the years.

For material innovators, COP is a key event for advocacy, brand connections and facilitating funding agreements. But, according to insiders, other, more focused events are more valuable. “It’s great to have these types of global events, but when you need to achieve something, you need more specific forums,” said Ana Rodes, head of sustainability at material science company Recover. 

While material and energy innovations have long been the focus, when it comes to fashion sustainability, the attention is now shifting to the energy sources that are powering fashion’s supply chain. This is being accelerated by internal brand targets and global carbon legislation.

“The fashion industry is hyper-fixated on materials,” said Harding-Rolls. “Even if we move away from synthetics to alternatives, they’re still going to be made using fossil fuels in the supply chain. There needs to be a very strong and quick shift to renewable energy in manufacturing bases. And typically, what’s happening is the opposite: There’s much more reliance on fuel like coal because suppliers are covering costs for other sustainability switches.”

Brands that have established supply chains and production in countries like Bangladesh and India are now working to fund energy transitions away from carbon-heavy coal, to avoid moving their supply chains altogether.

On December 5, H&M, the Global Fashion Agenda and Danish privately held company Bestseller announced a partnership with energy companies Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Summit Power to invest in Bangladesh’s first offshore wind-power plant. If approved, the plant is anticipated to commence operations in 2028 and provide 500 megawatts of power. Bestseller’s financial commitment is $100 million, while H&M did not disclose its commitment.

“The fashion industry needs to take responsibility for the countries where it’s producing by seeing how it can contribute to climate solutions or renewable energy solutions,” said Holly Syrett, director of impact programs and sustainability at the Global Fashion Agenda.

“We fully believe we need to bring some systemic change, through renewables, into the grid, because we’ve worked with many countries where it’s simply not happening,” said Dorte Rye Olsen, head of sustainability at Bestseller. “It is an equity investment, so there will be some return. But the priority is to bring renewable energy to the grid that is affordable and competitive with existing energy sources.”

H&M has been investing heavily in renewables as part of its ambitious energy goals. “Entering long-term partnerships with renewable energy developers is an example of our work toward our goal of 100% renewable electricity in our operations and supply chain by 2030,” said Ulrika Leverenz, head of green investment at H&M Group. “This means enabling additional new renewable electricity into the grid through both new solar and wind farms.”

“Globally, it’s beneficial to the textile manufacturing sector [to have these projects], because garment and textile manufacturing is so significant within Bangladesh. So even if it’s just going into the grid, a significant amount of that power will end up in those facilities,” said Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director of deforestation and textile recycling non-profit Canopy. The company works with over 500 fashion companies including Zara, Reformation and LVMH.

And it’s not just renewables that are being discussed as a transition-worthy energy source. On December 6, Gabriela Hearst took part in a discussion around the launch of the U.S.’s first international nuclear fusion strategy. Although historic events like Chernobyl have tainted the image of fusion, experts at the event are calling for renewed attention to the energy source. “We live in a silo community,” said Hearst during the talk. “The science community has this information about fusion’s potential, but not the fashion community or other communities. So it’s time to cross-pollinate information to bring more hope.”

Cross-industry collaboration is leading the conversation around how fashion should tackle its impact. “At the source, fashion is either agricultural or petrochemical,” said Mary Fellowes, founder of sustainable fashion consultancy GreenWith Studio, who is on-site at COP. “The only way forward for fashion is with multi-sector collaboration and public-private partnerships, whether that is with biotech on new materials, with waste solution providers for circular economy thinking or with farmers for cotton.”

Climate change adaptation was another big topic at COP. The Loss and Damage Fund, which was announced last year to help countries in the Global South adapt to a deteriorating climate, now sits at $700 million. According to Rycroft, that “covers one good flood” and is way too little to account for the damage the Global North has caused. 

“If you look at the wildfires, floods and tidal erosion that will happen, some of which will be directly attributable to fashion’s footprint, people in the Global South will be the ones that suffer the most, because they will be looking at climate migration, loss of habitat and erosion of their livelihoods,” said Fellowes.

“Although there isn’t enough in the fund at the moment, it has become a priority agenda item,” said Fellowes, calling the situation hopeful. “There’s the moral imperative to not ruin people’s lives, homes and heritage, but the financial and the business imperative is to not self-sabotage, either.” Brands that do not make climate adaptation a priority could face material sourcing problems and a collapsing supply chain.

“At these big conferences, we have these huge views on the world, but then if you consider the [people involved], it’s a different perspective,” said Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect. The company works on sustainable cotton programs and helps farmers adapt to global warming. “It’s so easy in the boardroom to have a very distant view of your supply chain. But our farmers were recently talking about how it’s rained heavily in India, so they can’t leave the house. The roads are so muddy, they can collapse.”

Extreme weather events are advancing the action of brands reliant on agricultural material sourcing, though, in some cases, those are getting in the way of existing renewable projects. “There has been some unseasonal heavy rain in northwest India, where some solar panels have been put up,” said Prakash Menakel Phillip, senior director at CottonConnect. “The rain has just knocked them out because the water got quite deep.”

Other COP discussions involving fashion brands centered on the need for public-facing disclosures by marketing teams to fuel more conversation about sustainability and the issue of overproduction.

“Conversations around marketing at COP have been insightful,” said Fellowes. “It’s so relevant to fashion. Not only is fashion the greatest marketing engine on Earth, but also, some of the biggest marketing spends happen there. Very large budgets go toward marketing. [Moving forward] it’s imperative for CMOs to start having a much bigger consultation process with [chief sustainability officers], and for there to be a mutual learning exchange,” said Fellowes. “Right now, a CMO rarely knows what the CSO does, and the two need to understand how they both work.”

At COP, Fashion Revolution is promoting the #SpeakVolumes campaign of the non-profit The Or Foundation. The campaign asks brands to disclose their annual production volumes, in an effort to minimize waste. So far, 30 brands including Collina Strada have disclosed their production volumes on the Stop Waste Colonialism website.

“COP is not about appealing to those that are radical and already on board,” said Neesha-Ann Longdon, partnerships manager at the Or Foundation. “It’s about driving a wider cultural and mindset shift across all societies and sectors, in order to move the world’s economies and people to a sustainable and circular future. Compared to other industries fashion has not been subjected to the same level of scrutiny or ESG regulation as some more high-risk sectors like oil and gas.”

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