UNEP has launched a Supply Chains Integrated Program (IP) which aims to address environmental degradation with focus on transforming the textile-fashion supply chain to be green, achieve zero pollution and zero waste, integrate nature-based solutions, and become carbon neutral.
- It will address the impact of the fashion sector on biodiversity loss, chemicals and waste, climate change, international waters, and land degradation.
- The Global Environment Facility (GEF) and lead agency UNEP have initiated the GEF-8 Integrated Programme (IP) which is made up of eight child projects—Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago in Latin-America and the Caribbean, and Cambodia, India, Mongolia and Pakistan in the Asia-Pacific region, working in alignment and coordinated by a global coordination project (GCP) led by UNEP.
- The programme approach was approved by the GEF Council in June 2023.
- The country child projects are expected to launch for implementation in 2025–31.
PROGRAMME AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the supply chains IP is to address the significant environmental impacts of the fashion sector, which includes land use, resource depletion, harmful/hazardous chemical use and pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Its primary objective is to promote transformational change in the sector by replacing resource-intensive processes and materials with sustainable approaches and alternatives and creating and strengthening circular and transparent supply chains.
EXPECTED PROGRAMMATIC OUTCOMES: The IP is structured around five outcomes addressing behaviour shifts across the value chain.
- Designers develop, use and make innovative regenerative products available, using circular business models.
- Buyers use sustainably sourced, innovative, responsibly managed, recycled and recyclable, regenerative or nature-based materials, in products.
- Manufacturers apply production and manufacturing processes that require less water, energy and no hazardous chemicals, produce less pollution and waste.
- Consumers and markets have access to innovative products and shift behaviour to favour longevity over unnecessary consumption.
- Retailers and waste managers implement reverse logistics processes which return products and materials for reuse or recycle.
KEY GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS (GEBS): Through its efforts, the IP will promote regenerative design, the substitution of non-renewable materials, resource-efficient production, improved purchasing behaviour, and post-use collection, and strive to achieve various GEBs. Key benefits include:
- Mitigate 7.9 million tons of GHG emissions
- Reduce and/or avoid 107 gTeQ emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into air
- Reduce 34,589 tons of chemicals of global concern and their waste
- Restore 317,000 hectares of land and ecosystems
IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Food and Agriculture Organization on the United Nations (FAO). The project is financed by the Global Environment Facility.
THE CONTEXT: Fashion and construction are among the top three economic sectors contributing to pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land degradation, water pollution, and threats to biodiversity.
- Fashion generates more GHG emissions than all global transport combined.
- The fashion industry, particularly during dyeing and finishing processes, is energy-intensive and emits significant GHGs. Additionally, fashion consumption and care contribute to climate impacts and microplastic pollution.
- Both sectors also produce substantial waste, and previous efforts to make them more sustainable have seen limited success.
- Circular economy initiatives face challenges due to hazardous chemicals in products, hindering recycling efforts and limiting actions to address the broader environmental impacts of these sectors.
