Ending Climate Colonialism in Fashion VOICES2023 | The Business of Fashion

BoF chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent sits down with Sammy Oteng, Ayesha Barenblat and Vidhura Ralapanawe at BoF VOICES 2023 to discuss how the fashion industry can responsibly manage the climate crisis. Background: The fashion industry is responsible for up to 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But the most profitable fashion companies are often headquartered in the countries that have historically generated more emissions, while the nations with a smaller carbon footprint often find themselves more severely impacted by extreme weather driven by the climate crisis. “The industry is structured in a way that's very colonial … it's the rich countries that are reaping all the rewards and benefits, and it's the poor countries that have kept this industry profitable,” says Ayesha Barenblat, the founder and CEO of Remake, a non-profit that advocates for sustainable practices in the fashion industry. Key Insights: - In fashion, the climate crisis appears in colonial structures that perpetuate unequal distributions of power and profit. According to Barenblat, companies act as “glorified marketeers, telling production nations how to deal with the climate crisis. They're setting science-based targets, but they're not paying for it … let's flip the script and actually have a conversation around the people who create value for this industry and how we centre them in the conversation.” - Countries in the global South have become dumping grounds for low-quality