Global Goals Week and Sustainable Fashion

Sep 28

This year, Global Goals Week (GGW) celebrates its 5th anniversary virtually. The week (18-26 September) was created to bring together experts, leaders and citizens to encourage progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), or Global Goals; 17 goals drafted by the United Nations seeking an all-inclusive approach to achieving sustainable development. This year, GGW is particularly important given the unprecedented set-backs our sustainable development faces due to COVID-19.

However - whilst 2020 has clearly been a rough year – the BLM Movement and COVID have also served to shine a much-needed light on the many inequalities which persist in today’s society. SDG Advocate Edward Ndopu states that “This could be the most inclusive Global Goals Week yet, an opportunity to hear from and engage with people all around the world about how we can work together to turn around the world’s trajectory.”

But how much does GGW intersect with sustainable fashion? Is fashion really such a major part of our society and international development?

Absolutely.

Firstly, fashion is a 2.5 trillion-dollar industry with supplies millions of jobs globally; 1 in 6 people in the world work in a fashion-related job. In terms of the usage and waste of natural resources, the industry is the second highest user of water worldwide, emits 10% of global carbon emissions, and produces over 21 billion tons of textile waste annually.

The fashion industry also links to many other industries: agriculture, chemical, transport, design, tourism and so many more. Carry Somers, Co-founder of Fashion Revolution, further explains that “the fashion industry has an often underestimated impact on the development of our planet. It’s closely linked to gender, labour and poverty issues and it has a considerable environmental impact”.

Moreover, fast fashion is a direct reflection of how our unsustainable society thrives today; promoting excessive and continual consumption whilst exploiting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Something which is an incredible form of art and expression has been manipulated into being part of the capitalist machine, focusing more on money than people and planet. However, with the help of the Global Goals, fashion can evolve into a sustainable industry, with inclusivity, equality and art at its core.

Sustainable fashion cannot be achieved without the Global Goals - it needs the ‘responsible consumption and production’, ‘reduced inequalities’ and ‘climate action’ which the SGD call for. Likewise, the Global Goals cannot be achieved without sustainable fashion; a movement which is already helping to open our eyes to the unjust and destructive nature of many of the world’s industries, and shifting consumer behaviours and attitudes.

So there we have it: Global Goals Week and Sustainable Fashion go hand in hand. Most of all, both demonstrate the rise in movements which are working towards a sustainable, fair and hopeful future – so here we come.