Listen in: Fashion’s growth dilemma in one episode
A conversation with STICA on why business-as-usual is incompatible with climate, nature and human rights goals.
Last week I put my Textile Exchange hat back on and talked alongside chief impact officer, Beth Jensen, on the topic of reimagining growth in a podcast episode with Michael Schragger for The Scandinavian Textile Initiative for Climate Action (STICA) Week.
I’m sharing this because over the course of the hour, I think we go into a great amount of detail as to why this topic is so important and what the report I authored for Textile Exchange on it last year includes. If you haven’t therefore had a chance to read the full paper yet, this is your cheat sheet:
Our overarching takeaway is this: growth-driven fashion (based on fossil-based virgin resource consumption) is incompatible with climate, nature and human rights goals.
“Growth as it has been traditionally defined—whether in terms of sales, production, or market share—is deeply ingrained in overarching financial systems and corporate culture. In most cases, pressure to prioritise growth outweighs sustainability goals, particularly when facing investors and shareholders who are accustomed to short-term financial returns,” the report reads.
In the episode, we explore what an alternative approach could look like, including the challenging concepts and terminology needed to frame the discussion, and whether apparel business leaders are or can ever be receptive to this analysis.
Indeed, one of the main reasons for writing this report is based on the fact we heard so strongly from industry that they need to be able to table this with senior leadership. To be able to show why such a contentious topic is important, what we know about it, and what we can be doing to address it.
As a result, in the episode, we also share what the pathways are for moving this agenda forward - from phasing out virgin fossil-based resources, to pushing for corporate advocacy on the topic. All of this is underpinned by the role that finance must play, that policy must play and ultimately that consideration of a just transition must play.
The podcast episode was launched as a series of 21 episodes from STICA covering everything from decarbonisation and circular business models to policy and accountability. There are so many incredible speakers so I encourage you to listen in to lots of them. You can find the full show here.