Collective Fashion Justice: ‘Less than 4 percent of BFC brands have climate targets’

A new report from Collective Fashion Justice has found that just seven of the 206 member brands associated with the British Fashion Council (BFC) have a published climate target, making up just 3.39 percent of the organisation's total membership. Only five (2.4 percent), meanwhile, have demonstrated science-based targets that align with the Paris Agreement.

This is according to new figures gathered and published as part of the nonprofit’s latest report addressing climate concerns among the UK’s fashion industry. A conclusion was drawn after Collective Fashion Justice reviewed the websites of all 223 member brands listed on the BFC’s website as of May 2024, excluding 13 without websites and four educational programmes.

The organisation called the findings an “embarrassment for an industry that considers itself one of the most creative and innovative in the world”, noting that it had “failed to invest in climate action meaningfully” while government policy had further “failed to necessitate that investment”. This comes despite the BFC already receiving support from the UK government to bolster sustainability progress among its members, with Collective Fashion Justice adding that while this was a positive step, “more work needs to be done”.

Just 2.3 percent of LFW brands exhibit science-based targets

The organisation called on the BFC and its brands to set and publish science-based emissions reduction targets and urgently develop strategies as to how these will be achieved. A large element of this, as highlighted by Collective Fashion Justice, is to address “irresponsible raw material production”, which the nonprofit said was responsible for 38 percent of industry greenhouse gas emissions.

In the report, it was noted that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) had stated that a switch to animal-free product alternatives would result in a “substantial reduction” of such emissions, making it an integral part of progress.

Other strategies put forth included decarbonisation, referring to energy-intensive manufacturing that relies on fossil fuels for which the nonprofit suggested a heightening in transparency and a shift to renewable energy; and degrowth. In regards to the latter, Collective Fashion Justice said downsizing the scale and volume of production and consumption was required in order to pursue climate targets.

It elaborated: “The use of fossil fuels to power manufacturing facilities, and a lack of attention on the need for fashion to use circularity to support degrowth in line with planetary boundaries are all critical to address.”