UNEP

A Global Plastics Treaty that seeks to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of plastic pollution, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic through the prevention, progressive reduction and remediation of plastic pollution, management and utilisation of plastic and plastic waste according to national priorities by 2040, is closer to reality.

The UNEP report — Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain: A Global Roadmap — published earlier this year has been updated with seven annexes that offer specific advice, key actions, and priorities that stakeholders can adopt to advance the textile sector towards circularity.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has outlined three priorities to deliver system change in the textiles value chain, and identified a roadmap that proposes nine ‘building blocks’ that could shape a sustainable and circular textiles value chain.

The theme of the just concluded COP27 was a focus on implementation. The pledges agreed upon in the past must give way to rapid action on tackling climate change and preparing for its effects. This also includes fashion companies, which are experts at talking the talk, but slow to walk the walk. A first-person account from the event.

The Fashion Industry Target Consultation project, a multi-stakeholder initiative, which aims to identify and converge existing industry aligned targets, has been launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), now under way at the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The just released UN Environment Programme’s ‘Sustainable Fashion: Communication Strategy 2021–24’ sets the context for the issues the industry is facing as well as the landscape in which it finds itself both from a consumer insights and policy perspective.

The Governments of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Viet Nam have joined forces to fight chemical pollution, launching a joint $43-million programme to manage and reduce hazardous chemicals in their textile industries.

Environmental consultancy Quantis has published a guidance that is meant to help companies and brands avoid any potential risks of greenwashing statements by enabling them to shape clear, transparent and substantiated claims. It notes that while the use of environmental claims has become mainstream, greenwashing—the use of misleading environmental claims—has also been on the rise.

The Innovative Business Practices and Economic Models in the Textile Value Chain (InTex) project of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is helping to improve resource efficiency and promote circularity in textiles in regions far from the glare of Big Media. The underlying idea is simple: empower local stakeholders.

Doing away with secondhand garments is easier said than done because people do need access to affordable clothing. Founder of Nairobi-headquartered Africa Collect Textiles (ACT), Elmar Stroomer, believes it is time to add a waste tax on imported items and the funds should be invested in high-end collection and recycling infrastructure.