Textile and apparel sector emission is expected to reach 9.5 per cent of global emissions by 2030, which has current level of 7.2 per cent.
Even if leading players of the industry meet their climate commitments, textile and apparel sectoral emissions from production are quite likely to increase in this decade.
cKinetics, a global sustainability advisory firm, has claimed this in one of its reports.
The report also says that the manufacturing and sale of textile goods and clothing generate 2.5 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. The study provides a framework to analyse the entire production value chain and brings granularity on the key levers to move.
Increasing consumer demand for textile goods and clothing, as well as increasing the use of polyester are the factors contributing most to the increase.
Rekha Rawat, Associate Director of the Sustainable Industries practice at cKinetics says, “The sector’s highest impact is concentrated in emerging economies. Hence there are several interlinked components.”
The briefing finds that 165 companies across the globe and across the production value-chain (from fibre all the way to product) generate and influence 608 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (or about 24 per cent of the sector’s emissions).
In the last few years, 56 of the companies have set climate goals and shared details on them. However, these goals are not sufficient as per the analysis and more companies would have to step up.
Textile and apparel sector contributed to 5.23 per cent of total global GHG emissions in 2010, which increased to 7.25 per cent in 2020, and is expected to reach 9.5 per cent by 2030.