A new report from Fashion Revolution, the world’s largest fashion activism movement, criticizes major fashion brands for failing to invest adequately in a fair transition away from fossil fuels and for not protecting workers from the impacts of extreme weather and other threats to their livelihoods.
The report, titled “What Fuels Fashion?” suggests that an investment of approximately 2 percent of annual revenue by large fashion brands could facilitate a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, promoting sustainable manufacturing practices. This special edition of the annual Fashion Transparency Index evaluates and ranks 250 of the world’s leading fashion brands and retailers, each with a turnover of USD $400 million or more, based on their public disclosure of climate and energy-related actions. The comprehensive analysis spans 70 data points, including accountability, decarbonization, energy procurement, financing decarbonization, and just transition and advocacy.
Fashion continues to be one of the most polluting industries, with fossil fuels utilized extensively throughout production processes and comprising many popular fabrics. The report highlights that, despite the escalating climate crisis, the reduction targets of major brands fall short of the global objective to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Instead of investing in a sustainable transition to renewable energy, many brands are passing the costs onto factories, thereby placing the burden on workers and communities who did not cause the problem.
The research reveals that nearly 1 million jobs in the fashion sector could be lost due to extreme weather conditions. Additionally, only 3 percent of major brands (just seven) disclose efforts to financially support workers affected by the climate crisis. This lack of protection is particularly concerning given the weak social safety nets in garment-producing countries, where workers often face poverty wages and high debt levels. Frequent climate-related events, such as heat waves, monsoons, and droughts, are severely impacting their livelihoods. Fashion Revolution calls on major fashion brands to urgently provide compensation mechanisms for these workers, framing it not as charity but as a matter of justice.
“By investing at least 2 percent of their revenue into clean, renewable energy, and supporting and upskilling workers, fashion brands could simultaneously mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis and reduce poverty and inequality within their supply chains,” said Maeve Galvin, Global Policy and Campaigns Director at Fashion Revolution. “Climate breakdown is avoidable because we have the solutions — and big fashion can certainly afford it.”
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