Deforestation

Manmade cellulosic fibres have been marketed as renewable alternatives to synthetics, derived from forest wood rather than petroleum. Yet the forest economy supplying them is tightening. Climate shocks, land competition, and rising compliance expectations are constraining the pool of credible, traceable fibre. For apparel brands positioning viscose and modal as decarbonisation levers, the exposure is shifting from reputational to structural.

Cascale and Worldly have developed a standardised methodology for apparel and footwear companies using the Higg MSI to calculate FLAG emissions. The method separates FLAG from aggregated GHG data, integrates land use change figures, and applies base and conservative assumptions. It delivers consistent baselines, enabling compliance with Science-Based Targets initiative requirements and alignment with forthcoming GHG Protocol FLAG reporting guidance.

Coach luxury handbags have been linked to illegal Amazon deforestation through Brazilian leather supply chains connected to cattle ranching on stolen indigenous land, new investigation reveals. European fashion brands risk complicity in environmental crimes whilst marketing sustainable products to consumers seeking ethical luxury goods.

An exhaustive Greenpeace investigation reveals Royal Golden Eagle's extensive network of shadow companies linked to massive deforestation in Indonesia. The report exposes the destruction of critical peatlands and endangered species habitats, highlighting significant gaps in corporate sustainability claims and intensifying calls for transparency and stricter due diligence across global supply chains.

What key steps can SMEs take to act on their biodiversity goals—from understanding their impact, to integrating into a collaborative effort of suppliers, innovators, and conservation advocates to drive change through supply chains and secure conservation where it counts?

For the first time ever Canopy's Hot Button Report has awarded the coveted 'green shirt' status to three global producers—India-based Aditya Birla, Austria-based Lenzing, and China-based Tangshan Sanyou.

Redefine sustainability as regeneration. Rethink progress, not by how much we reduce emissions, but by how much we restore and regenerate. Regeneration isn’t just about restoring the land but also about empowering the people who live on it. Driving all of this for a real change requires a collaborative approach, reiterated the discussions, parleys at the 12-day COP29 at Baku that began 11 November and ends today. A texfash report.

The problem of deforestation is extended to leather only by ‘proxy’. The entire industry—the world across—has just about a year in not only to put in place traceability systems that work and are cheap, but also to shed off the deforestation tag. texfash tries to unravel the threads.

Over 20 associations working in the leather industry across the world have urged the forthcoming climate COP29 to heed the voice of the leather sector in the development of policies and regulations needed to combat manmade climate change.

A private partnership involving 40 farms in Brazil, pioneering zero-deforestation in the Amazon region, has ensured the first container of 100% traceable Brazilian leather for the European market in Italy.