Event Description
Fashion is one of the world’s largest industries, employing over 75 million people and generating around 2 trillion USD revenue per year. While fashion serves as an important medium for expressing self-identities and shaping social values, it also stands as a major contributor to climate change due to its carbon- and chemical-intensive processes. Those impacts are further exacerbated by the growing demand for fast fashion. The apparel and textile sectors are estimated to be responsible for up to 10% of the global greenhouse gas emissions annually, alongside having other consequential impacts such as water pollution and biodiversity loss.
As the fashion industry becomes increasingly aware of its environmental footprint, many brands have made pledges to decarbonize through strategies such as using renewable energy and sourcing more eco-friendly materials. However, it still requires significant additional efforts and collaborations throughout the entire fashion value chain to keep up with the 1.5-degree pathway outlined by the Paris Agreement. This discussion will revisit recent notable developments and identify future opportunities to help the fashion industry become beautiful, sustainable, and responsible at the same time.
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required. For more information, please visit the event webpage or email [email protected].
Hosted by the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.