The first thing that strikes one is that such reports are mostly published by government agencies or civil society organisations. This industry-initiated study is arguably the first of its kind. What made Fashion Council Germany commission such a study? What were the underlying ideas/sentiments?
We published our study on the Status of German Fashion at the beginning of last year. In this study, we took a closer look at the economic relevance of the German fashion industry. For our latest study on the German Fashion Footprint we also considered pre-pandemic data from 2019. Hence, we understand our latest report as an important continuation. As the previous report, the study was conducted by Oxford Economics and funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Both studies serve as an important basis of knowledge for our work with the industry and governmental institutions. We found it a logical next step to discuss the footprint of our fashion industry. We are already in planning for new releases and additions in 2023.
Were the findings what you had expected to see? Or, is the environmental impact much larger than you thought?
Since we already know the results from the previous study on the Status of German Fashion, we expected a relatively large impact of the German fashion industry on the five factors we considered in the German Fashion Footprint. The significant results surprised everyone involved in the study and strengthens the obvious urge to change the disruptive mechanism of the industry. I want to give you an example of one of the study’s key facts:
In the latest study we estimated that in 2019, the German fashion industry’s global greenhouse gas footprint was just over 38 million tonnes (CO2e). This is equivalent to the average annual emissions of 1.9 million German households, or 8.7 million trips around the earth in a family car. It is also a similar magnitude to the total direct emissions of Slovakia in 2019 (42 million tonnes), or the business and government direct emissions of Sweden (47 million tonnes).
Likewise, we found out that Germany ranks first by far with over 853 million tonnes of CO2e looking at the total greenhouse gas emissions (industry and private households) from all EU28 countries, ahead of the UK (2nd) with more than 501 million tonnes CO2e and France (3rd) with nearly twice as much as Germany with more than 450 million CO2e.
You write in your foreword: "We see it as a game-changing tool for reversing or stopping developments that have been proceeding in the wrong direction." What is the first thing that comes to your mind that needs to be reversed or stopped? After all, there are far too many things that need to be done.
The study primarily serves as a basis for our work here at Fashion Council Germany. Not only in Germany, but for all EU countries, the Supply Chain Act has already been initiated. This is, for example, an important instrument to transform the German and European fashion industry in the long run to a sustainable and hopefully soon circular economy.
At the same time, we understand the fashion industry as an "ecosystem" in which not only many companies, but also every individual is directly or indirectly involved. Every human being on this planet wears clothes or textiles that have been more or less industrially produced. Accordingly, we also see a certain responsibility on the part of end consumers (at least in the leading industrial nations) to make their purchasing decisions (more) carefully.
We, as Fashion Council Germany, also see a certain responsibility in educating the next generation(s). With the help of education, we wish to stop rampant consumerism and the urge to buy new and cheap clothes. We want to set an incentive to take care of or repair your used items. The game changing factor about the report is to open eyes and create more awareness with facts and figures. That is the basis for all further steps.
