Inditex SA

Major fashion brands are using greater amounts of polluting synthetic textiles, a survey of 50 global firms— representing $1 trillion in market value and spanning fast fashion, sports, luxury and supermarket own-brands — reveals greater dependence on synthetic fibres that are driving fast fashion, and use of fossil fuel industry tactics, says a report by the Changing Markets Foundation.

Fashion for Good has launched a collaborative ambitious initiative aimed at accelerating the next generation of footwear innovations needed to drive circularity spanning four workstreams across the supply chain from materials to end of use.

Fashion has some bad news for the planet. Most brands are actively “greenwashing” their emissions with none of the companies assessed reporting transparently on the terms, value invested or availability to suppliers, says a new Stand.earth report.

A clean chit notwithstanding, Better Cotton, in not addressing the loopholes with the standard itself, has only exposed itself to further investigation. And that’s despite the sugar-coated admissions that “we will take action to expand our due diligence process."

UK nonprofit Earthsight’s investigations reveal nearly a million tonnes of tainted cotton from some of the most notorious estates in Brazil to clothing manufacturers in Asia, and being supplied to fast fashion behemoths H&M and Zara.

The Paris Agreement goal of limiting climate change to 1.5°C could well remain a mirage, says the 2024 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM) which evaluated 51 of the world’s largest companies, including 5 in the fashion sector.

As pressure mounts on clothing retailers to prove that there is no forced labour in their supply chains, Zara’s parent company, Inditex, has been urged to disclose its list of suppliers and their geographical location.

Renewable electricity strategies of some major brands fall woefully short and standard-setters provide limited incentives and sometimes even barriers to increase ambition, says a study by the NewClimate Institute.

The escalating reliance on biomass in the fashion sector not only threatens climate, ecosystems and human health, but also poses significant risks to the broader push toward genuine renewable energy, especially in Asia, says a report by environmental advocacy group Stand.earth.

Stakeholders from raw material supply chains of cotton, leather (bovine, caprine, ovine), cashmere and wool can apply for the Regenerative Fund for Nature for grants ranging from $120,000 to $620,000 with a project duration of 3–5 years.