The projected 2030 average carbon footprint of fashion consumption (measured in CO2e) for G20 countries is the highest in Australia, and the lowest in India.
- Only Indonesia and India have a positive carbon budget for fashion lifestyles, meaning that their carbon footprint of fashion consumption is below the 1.5-degree target.
- The per capita footprint target for 2030 is exceeded in 14 of the 19 surveyed G20 countries, indicating that rapid and radical reductions in fashion consumption are needed. [The European Union is a member of the G20 but is not included in the analysis.]
- The conclusions are from the study, Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable: Resizing Fashion for a Fair Consumption Space, published by Hot or Cool Institute, based in Germany.
Looking at Targets:
- There is a need to aim for a per capita fashion consumption footprint target of 128.7 kg of CO₂e by 2030 to comply with the 1.5-degree aspirational target of the Paris Agreement.
- The footprint gaps between current fashion lifestyles and the target show that footprints need to be reduced by 60% on average by 2030 among the G20 high-income countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the UK and the United States). The upper middle-income countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Mexico, the Russian Federation, South Africa and Turkey) need to reduce their footprints by over 40% by 2030.
- The lower middle-income countries (India and Indonesia), meanwhile, have a positive carbon budget for fashion lifestyles.
Growing Consumption:
- Among the G20 countries, Australia has the highest footprint, at 503 kg of CO₂e per year, resulting from average consumption of around 27 kg of new clothing per year and clothing discards of around 23 kg.
- At the other end among G20 countries is India, which, despite rapidly rising consumption levels and an expanding middle class, has the lowest per capita fashion consumption footprint at 22 kg of CO₂e per year, less than 5% that of Australia.
- These average values are affected by the high consumption levels of top income groups within countries. A representative sampling of G20 countries shows that the lowest income quintile is responsible for 6–11% of the total carbon footprint, the second quintile for 10–13%, the third quintile for around 17%, the fourth quintile for 24–26%, and the highest income quintile for 36–42%.
- On average, the emissions of the richest 20% were 20 times higher than the emissions of the poorest 20%. This ratio varies substantially across countries, consistent with levels of income inequality.
- The richest 20% would have to reduce their footprint by 83% in the UK, 75% in Italy and Germany, and 50% in France, considering a few representative countries.
- These numbers point to why interventions at the national level would fail if they do not affect consumption by the richest 20% – who, in addition to their direct impacts, also influence the aspirations of others.
