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The event, which was attended by 984 people in-person and 829 online, was hosted by Los Angeles-based environmentalist Leah Thomas, founder of the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist. The three-day event offered many key takeaways for participants to consider regarding the future of the textile industry, according to a press release by the organiser.
The Textile Exchange Conference 2022, which was held from November 14–18, 2022 in Colorado Springs, aimed to map out a ‘pathway to positive impact’ which included reducing the textile industry’s emissions enough to help limit global warming to 1.5°C. The event also focused on delivering beneficial outcomes for soil health, water, and biodiversity.
There were discussions on how brands can prioritise biodiversity beyond the sourcing gate and ensure due diligence in supply chains as climate, nature, and community can no longer be seen through separate lenses.
Data was recognised as a powerful ally for guiding decisions, but needs to be framed with on-the-ground experience. “There really is no substitution for going out into the field and seeing what is happening on the ground. Only then can you put data in the frame of reality and start to see where things don’t add up,” Textile Exchange’s COO Claire Bergkamp said in the session Responsible Use of Data.
Sessions at the conference explored how policy and non-financial disclosure can regulate the industry but defining what these systems should look like will require input from stakeholders across the sector. It was noted that the goal of full transparency requires the buy-in and cooperation from all players in the supply chain, and attention should be paid to ensure that no one is harmed or put at a disadvantage by disclosure.
Climate change was recognised as a business risk, and it was agreed upon that solution building required stakeholders from all backgrounds, geographies, cultures, and stages of the supply chain. The importance of scalability, especially for known solutions like textile-to-textile recycling and regenerative agriculture, was highlighted.
Conference attendees learnt that risk and reward must be shared across everyone involved—from company employees, to supply chain partners, to producers. Solutions that work in one landscape, ecosystem, culture, or community might not work in another. Stakeholders need to work with place-based data and local targets to deal with challenges.
It was noted that the responsibility for gathering data, improving data quality, designing for longevity and circularity, and investing wisely falls on all stakeholders. Gaps between brands, producers, and suppliers need to be closed. Brands need to leverage tools like impact incentives to increase the production of materials grown using more sustainable practices, outside of their own supply chain. They also need to look at the sourcing locations they share with others, so that their individual material sourcing efforts and investments can evolve into collective, landscape-level action for supply security and nature, added the release.
Companies were also urged to invest in regenerative, restorative projects that are developed in full financial partnership with farmers, indigenous communities, and researchers.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
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