资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Last year, WWF, WaterAid, and a coalition of other brands, companies and associations published an Open Letter during World Water Week 2020 to underscore the need for the Fashion, Apparel and Textile sector to build back better and more sustainably from the COVID-19 crisis, write Payal Luthra, Global Apparel and Textiles Lead at WWF and Laurent Arnone, Private Sector Advisor at WaterAid.

Now, one year later we find that COVID-19 remains a raging pandemic, and the recently released report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows in stark relief that no part of the globe will be left untouched by the impacts of climate change. Human activities are unequivocally pushing the world beyond planetary boundaries, driving catastrophic biodiversity loss and amplifying the perils of climate change.

The IPCC report also demonstrates the clear link between climate and water. Long droughts followed by severe flooding in many areas devastates communities, particularly those who lack access to a safely managed water service. Today 771 million people, many living in key sourcing countries for the apparel industry, still do not have clean water close to home.

The Fashion, Apparel and Textile sector’s operational continuity requires water availability for both product development and workforce wellbeing. High demand for a resource that is increasingly scarce (global water demand is projected to increase by up to 30% by 2050), impacts production rates and puts production sites in competition for water with local communities and ecosystems.

This year’s World Water Week theme of “Building Resilience Faster” aligns with the call of the Open Letter and presents an opportunity to steer the conversation towards more concrete steps to transform the apparel and textile industry.

There is an urgency to realign business strategies with the most pressing environmental, social and economic risks. Business owners and shareholders seek to protect the long-term viability of their investments and understand the business-case of increasing their commitments to sustainable development.

While the decoupling of production from consumption that depletes water resources and emits large amounts of greenhouse gases is paramount, there is more that can be done. There is great opportunity for companies to lead with purpose and create value by incorporating water into transformational strategies, which can help solve some of society’s biggest challenges. A holistic approach to water stewardship that mutually prioritises ecosystems, community health and operational needs will ultimately underpin and deliver commercial success.

In today’s panel session, four of the Open Letter signatories, WWF, WaterAid, H&M, and Tchibo, will come together to highlight opportunities within the sector that can accelerate the transition to sustainable practices and build resilience in the future.

The conversation will focus on three major themes of the Open Letter: sustainability commitments, ecosystem resilience, and green recovery. Panelists will discuss their journeys and experiences with water stewardship, explore linkages between business operations and biodiversity, nature-based solutions that businesses can invest in to build resilient ecosystems and to conserve freshwater resources, and how green finance can be deployed to push the sector towards a more sustainable future.

We hope you’ll join us at 21:00 CEST today. You can register here.