Fashion’s unpaid bill: the cost of the catwalk’s climate retreat
key takeaways.
- Some of the world’s biggest fashion outlets appear to be backsliding on their commitment to building sustainable business models
- Overproduction remains a structural problem, with as much as 30% of all new garments going unsold1
- New EU anti-destruction rules aim to prevent unsold clothes being destroyed – observers will be watching closely to assess the law’s impact
- Some industry experts are calling for a new tax system to ‘price in’ clothing’s climate impact and level the playing field between those firms with sustainable practices and those that have the largest environmental footprints
- Extreme weather events and geopolitical disruptions are strengthening the commercial case for regenerative agriculture, recycling, AI-enabled demand forecasting and more resilient supply chains.
The fashion industry faces growing climate, regulatory, and supply chain challenges. Discover how sustainability and resilience are becoming competitive advantages.
Fashion’s growing climate cost is still not priced in
EU anti-destruction law comes into force
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rethink sustainability.
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Could new taxes level the playing field?
Securing supply chains against extreme weather and geopolitical shocks
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Mitigating risk and building a competitive edge
Read also: Thread counts: regenerative cotton on the rise in fashion
1Shein Global Holdings Limited Global Offering (IPO prospectus)
2UN Environment Programme Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain, A Global Roadmap
3Redefining used textiles and textile waste
4UN Environment Programme Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain, A Global Roadmap; Lake Geneva - Wikipedia
5Tackling the Global Crisis of Textile Waste | BCG
6UNECE-ECLAC, Reversing direction in the used clothing crisis: Global, European and Chilean perspectives
7Fashion’s Business Model Is The Root Of Garment Overstock
8[Textiles] ESPR crash course - How the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will impact apparel and footwear brands
9Communiqué de presse - Réforme de la filière REP textile : le Gouvernement en soutien aux acteurs de l'économie sociale et solidaire | Ministères Transition écologique, Aménagement du Territoire, Transports, Ville et Logement; 2024 Barometer | Refashion Pro
10Decathlon, Shein, Kiabi: unsold goods are used to collect millions of euros of public money
11Louis Vuitton, Regeneration-2030-roadmap
12Ibid
13More than 320,000 now evacuated in France and Spain as wildfires continue to spread | Euronews; 2026 France wildfires - Wikipedia
14Increasing exposure of cotton growing areas to compound drought and heat events in a warming climate - ScienceDirect
15Extreme heat endangers cotton production | Ecotextile News; Extreme heatwave in Pakistan and India hits cotton prices - Images magazine
16China’s Xinjiang warns of more floods, risk to cotton crop amid heatwaves | Inquirer News
17Heat stress from current and predicted increases in temperature impairs lambing rates and birth weights in the Australian sheep flock | Nature Food; Prolonged heat stress and wool growth in sheep | International Journal of Biometeorology | Springer Nature Link
18Fashion brands should treat water stress as a material risk to their finances, study says | Trellis; The water footprints of global textiles trade | Impacts on fresh water along the textile value chain
19Iran war hits Asia's polyester suppliers to global fast fashion | Reuters; 1705647935_Indian Polyester Yarn Industry_CareEdge Report.pdf
20Fashion’s Business Model Is The Root Of Garment Overstock
21Fashion has a petroleum problem. Here's how we can solve it | Reuters
22The State of Fashion 2026: When the rules change | McKinsey
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