I recently came across Higher Ground? Fashion’s Climate Breakdown, a study by Cornell University's Global Labor Institute in partnership with Schroders, on the impacts of climate change on the fashion industry.
When we think about ways for the fashion industry to decrease its environmental footprint, we usually talk about using more recycled materials, reducing waste and water usage, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. While these efforts are important, Higher Ground? Fashion’s Climate Breakdown discusses other environmental costs that are usually ignored, namely the effects of climate breakdown on the workers, communities and industries behind apparel production.
The study looks at four countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Vietnam, that account for 18% of global apparel exports in 2021. These countries’ major production centers already confront extreme heat and humidity and are likely to experience significant flooding, both of which negatively impact worker health and productivity. The study’s authors modeled out heat and flood projections, based on a middle-of-the-road scenario, in these four countries for 2030 and 2050 and estimated a 22% decline in export earnings and nearly 1 million fewer new jobs for 2030 and a 68.8% earnings decline and 8.64 million fewer jobs for 2050. Then, the study looked at six global apparel brands with supplier bases in these production centers and estimated productivity impacts from extreme heat and flooding on workers and manufacturers for all six brands to add up to 5% or more of the brand’s net operating profits.
Some recommendations proposed by Higher Ground? Fashion’s Climate Breakdown include:
Treat heat and flood events as health hazards with paid leave for events and related illnesses and provide workers with the right to stop work.
Establish agreements and partnerships between brands, manufacturers, unions and governments to address and adapt to climate breakdown.
Retrofit or relocate production facilities to lower risk locations.
Integrate climate adaptation and worker-rights measures in government trade policies.
The Global Labor Institute has a conference planned for February 2, 2024 in New York City: GLI 2024: Change or Groundhog Day? What new research tells us about what works in global labor governance.
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