By Aliyu DANLADI
The fashion industry is valued upward of 2.5 trillion dollars, and employs some 75 million people globally, a UN Economic Commission for Europe – Food and Agriculture Organisation’s initiative has said.
The initiative, ‘Forests for Fashion’, advocated textile production shifts from fossil fuel-based synthetic fibres to renewable and biodegradable textiles, made from wood,
The UN agencies said the new initiative, which links forest-based materials from sustainably managed forests, with the world of fashion, aimed to make forests literally more fashionable.
UN Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador and star of the movie ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ Michelle Yeoh, said: “Sustainability of a society is both an individual and a collective responsibility”.
“The fashion industry is responsible for producing 20 per cent of global waste water and 10 per cent of the global carbon emission.
“This is more than the emissions of all international flights and maritime shipping combined,” she said.
The textiles industry has recently been identified as a major polluter, with estimates of around half a million tonnes of plastic microfibers ending up in the world’s oceans as polyester, nylon or acrylic are washed each year.
“Fashion is often a synonym of dangerous working conditions, unsafe processes and hazardous substances used in production,” she said, citing the cruel abuses of modern slavery and child labour.
Yeoh stressed that everyone must make a conscious choice to change habits and plan for the future in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Today we count around 3.2 billion people in the global middle class. By 2030, this number will rise to about 5.4 billion with the major part of the growth occurring in Asia.
“The 2.2 billion people entering the global middle class will aspire to a similar lifestyle as we know it today – which includes a similar consumption pattern with respect to clothing.”
While acknowledging the need for governments’ involvement in shifting the fashion industry to in the right direction, she put the main onus on individuals to start the fashion “revolution”.
“Many of us would also think that forests are best left untouched, however is often by adding value to their products that we can best protect them.
“And in many cases restoration efforts can be coupled with productive forests. Moreover, forests can create productive ecosystems, to support local and rural communities,” she said.
According to the UNDP envoy, forest fibers are already a reality and textile businesses are growing or buying large forest extensions.
“New fibers are highly sustainable, their carbon and ecological footprints are low, and there are different fast-growing species suitable for different places and climates,” she said.
