The attention of those concerned with the health of the earth is currently focused on Belem, in the Amazon jungle, where the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change, Cop30, is being held until November 21: 50 thousand delegates from around the world discussing the future of the earth’s climate, 33 years after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, at which the historic Rio Treaty was signed, and 53 years after the meeting in Stockholm at which the issue of the impact of human activity on the environment was addressed for the first time.
Optimism about being able to stop or contain it is now lower than before. We are five years away from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN by 2030, and CO2 emissions continue to rise, although not as fast as in the past. Soon after the meeting in Rio, LVMH, currently the world’s largest luxury group, inaugurated an “environmental department”, a first step towards sustainability in the fashion industry, recognizing that it is among the departments that have the greatest impact on the planet’s resources and well-being.
Fashion Pact launches European accelerator
33 years later, having grown into a $1.3 trillion global business, fashion is still the second largest industry in terms of water consumption and is responsible for 2-8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But for many actors, although not for all, the commitment to improvement is authentic: right on the opening day of Cop30, The Fashion Pact (an NGO that engages the CEOs of groups and companies in the sector, such as Chanel, Zegna, Moncler and Prada, to achieve zero emissions in fashion) presented a new project, the European Accelerator, to support the reduction of supplier emissions throughout the supply chain, starting from Italy, through the harmonization of the data collected, for their better understanding. but also access to financing that allows small-sized companies to face a complex transition, as the decarbonization of the European fashion system, according to Teha Group estimates, could cost 4.4 billion euros by 2030.
From Patagonia to Eurojersey: the company’s commitment
The path to zero impact is ambitious, but fraught with uncertainty and obstacles even for “green natives” like Patagoniawhich three years ago decided to fight extractive capitalism by changing its corporate structure in the interests of planet Earth (see column on page). Its latest sustainability report, the first since that revolutionary act, is significantly called a “Work in Progress”, and in addition to listing achieved goals (such as the total elimination of harmful PFAS from products), it frankly acknowledges goals that are more complicated to achieve: for example, despite having designated 2040 as the year of zero emissions, Patagonia in the 24-25 fiscal year still emitted 178,711 cubic tons of CO2, and despite serious and intensive technological research, the percentage stay the same. the use of recycled synthetic materials is 84%, even though the aim is totality. Cases like that of Patagonia, which has been B Corp certified since 2011 and whose scores have improved year over year, are examples for the entire industry. In Italy, for example, an in-depth sustainability report was compiled Mantecoa textile company in the Prato district, which thanks to patents such as ReviWool in 2024 saved 80 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent (19% less than in 2023), more than 14 cubic hectoliters of water (-18.95%) and 167.81 terajoules of energy (-22.72%). The remainder is in the textile sector, in the latest Footprint Report by Eurojerseya company from the Carvico group, through an innovative air conditioning and water recovery system, has succeeded in reducing the energy consumption per unit of fabric produced by 11%. «Companies and society can end this apathy, the fatal form of extractive capitalism that brought us here – writes Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, in the report’s introduction -. But we have to take the first step.”
