Leather Industry can Veritably be Part of the Climate Solution

Director / Leather UK

The Leather Manifesto was released to coincide with COP26 and COP27 as the issues raised in the manifesto are highly pertinent to the larger discussion on climate that takes place at those meetings. Clearly, the COP meetings are concerned with the global level, wider concerns for climate change and it was highly unlikely that the specific issues raised in the Manifesto would form part of those discussions.

However, it is important for the leather industry to assert and reassert the value of upcycling an inevitable by-product of the food sector, into a renewable, versatile material that, if not produced, would result in the waste of huge volumes of raw material and inevitably be replaced by plastic. COP provides a very visible, relevant and well understood opportunity to do that.

Executive Secretary / International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies

When we throw away hides and skins, we are discarding one of the most sophisticated materials ever made by nature and decomposing them while creating a great microbiological hazard. A responsible way is to use to make long lasting products that can be repairable, biodegradable and can be used instead of fossil-based materials. We are just starting to learn what sustainability is (and is not) and as we create more tools, measures and interpret data, we can accurately compare materials, usage, end of life and make better choices. We are still on trial and error in many aspects but for sure we will evolve and learn; this will be the time we will properly position the leather products against the competition.

President / Leather & Hide Council of America

The Leather Manifesto was a call to action not just for the COP27 delegates themselves, but for all interested parties in the space of sustainable materials production. We will continue to advocate for the core message of the industry not only in the context of the COP conferences, but in any forum that may be discussing sustainable material utilisation. Advocacy efforts like this are rarely complete following one-off meetings or conferences, rather, this is one in a series of avenues the industry will use to promote its sustainability credentials.

Management Board / Leather Naturally

The leather industry released its manifesto for COP 26 and 27 as a way of drawing attention to the fact that leather is a valuable material that upcyles the hides and skins that are a by-product of the food industry that would otherwise go to waste. As a natural material that is long-lasting, can be repaired or repurposed and at end of life will biodegrade, it needs to be part of wider discussions towards a circular economy. The COP agenda is a busy one and becoming a headline challenger is always going to be difficult, but if you don’t show up you can’t ever be part of the discussion. The leather industry will therefore continue to show up and make the point that it can be part of the climate solution.

Managing Director / Sustainable Leather Foundation

The leather industry is standing up to be counted. Stakeholders across the board are actively working together to find ways to preserve an industry that has been consistently misrepresented in recent years. It is not a perfect industry, and it does create emissions, but all production has impact and the reality is that whether I’m talking with a rancher, a tanner, a chemical company, a brand or an OEM, they are all concerned with minimising that impact. The disconnect that still exists is the battle between profit versus sustainability. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard “surveys tell us that consumers will pay more for sustainability” – they don’t.

In a hypothetical survey they say they will, but when it comes to the point of purchase in store or online, they won’t pay more money for an item that looks exactly the same as a less expensive version just because it was made more sustainably. This runs back up stream to the brand/retailer who doesn’t want to take the hit to their profits by swallowing that extra cost, so they push it back upstream to the supply chain and nothing changes fast. We have some real forward-thinking organisations who see sustainability as an intrinsic part of their business model but for the vast majority it is still seen as an expensive “add-on.”.

The luxury market has a customer base that means it can afford to invest, but the high street has created such a large expectation for low-cost fashion and consumable products, that it is a herculean task to reverse that and remain profitable. What is going to change things is incoming legislation and regulation—that will speed up innovation.