How Much Will Climate Change Cost Fashion? - The Business of Fashion
How Much Will Climate Change Cost Fashion? | BoF
The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
New regulations are set to make it easier for investors to factor in companies’ environmental footprint when deciding which businesses to back.
As the UN warns the world is on track for dangerous levels of warming, companies must treat climate change as a real business risk, not just a marketing opportunity.
The extreme and deadly weather experienced around much of the world in July got little mention on big brands’ earnings calls, signalling that investors and executives still aren’t treating climate as an immediate business risk.
Sarah Kent is Chief Sustainability Correspondent at The Business of Fashion. She is based in London and drives BoF's coverage of critical environmental and labour issues.
In a letter sent late last week, a coalition of shareholders urged the US sportswear giant to enable payment of $2.2 million to garment workers claiming wage theft at two supplier factories.
This season more than 30 brands on the New York Fashion Week calendar have a focus on sustainability.
The killing of a union leader in Bangladesh this summer has heightened anxiety over the risks facing labour organisers amid a broader, often violent, crackdown on labour rights.
Providing contestants with innovative materials, mentorship and access to a global network of designers, the annual competition is an opportunity for emerging designers to showcase their talent and build out their portfolio. BoF sits down with this year’s contestants to learn more.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”