PARIS — With world leaders skipping this year’s COP29, fashion is also keeping its distance.
The presidents of France, Germany, India and the U.S., and the head of the European Union, are some of the high-profile absentees at this round of the U.N.’s annual climate talks, with countries such as Papua New Guinea skipping it altogether.
Industry organizations such as the Global Fashion Agenda will not be attending, with the organization instead concentrating on its gala in Shanghai, which took place last week, and its upcoming summit in Copenhagen, which will focus on collective action solutions.
U.K.-based NGO Fashion Revolution is also advocating from afar. “We are all fatigued from discussions and commitments, the time is running out and we urgently need action,” the group said. It is instead calling on brands to invest 2 percent of their revenue in transitioning to renewable energy and clean up their supply chains.
Kering and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton are also sitting out this round, as well as luxury brands like Stella McCartney, which showcased next generation materials last year.
Kering launched a new initiative during the U.N. biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia, last month, and LVMH is prepping to participate in the upcoming U.N. conference on desertification in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December.
Brands and organizations indicated they are aware of the calls to boycott this year’s round of talks due to its controversial location in Baku, Azerbaijan. The country is a major fossil fuel producer, known as a petrostate, and has a record of arresting journalists and activists who protest its government.
But as extreme weather events become increasingly common, causing infrastructure destruction and supply chain disruptions, industry organizations emphasized that the fashion industry needs to continue to engage with policymakers and financiers to support and fund systemic change.
NGO Canopy, which works with brands to stop the sourcing of viscose and other wood-based materials made from ancient and endangered forests, focused its efforts this year on New York Climate Week earlier this year, as well as the U.N.’s biodiversity conference, which was held in October.
“We saw a lot of brands actively engaged in NYCW and an increased number of brands at COP16. Given the industry’s growing recognition of the importance of nature and biodiversity conservation, this was a positive outcome of COP29 being hosted by another petrochemical state,” said Canopy executive director Nicole Rycroft.
A spokesperson for one large brand sitting out this round added that having a presence at a conference widely overshadowed by controversy “doesn’t help,” and that with multiple climate conferences taking place in quick succession they would risk spreading themselves too thin.
“A lower turnout does not reflect the importance of corporate action in our sector, nor does it reflect a lack of brand commitment to climate action. Brand leaders know that conventional ‘take, make, waste’ supply chains are increasingly volatile due to the climate crisis increasing the frequency and intensity of fires, floods and droughts,” Rycroft said.
“The consequences of that for pricing, for quality and secure supply in another three to 10 years are game-changing. The brands and many of the producers we’re working with are leaning in rather than out,” she added.
As COP29 officially got underway on Tuesday with world leaders addressing the convention, U.N. leaders framed the fight against climate change as an economic one, and highlighted how extreme weather events are causing disruptions in global supply chains and infrastructure damage, among other major impacts on lives and the environment.
In opening remarks, COP executive secretary Simon Stiell framed it in a way to speak to business and consumers, particularly those concerned about inflation.
“The climate crisis is fast becoming an economy killer, right now, today, in this political cycle,” he said. “The climate crisis is a cost-of-living crisis, because climate disasters are driving up costs for households and businesses.”
Apparel Impact Institute president and chief executive officer Lewis Perkins agreed that there will be less of a fashion presence this year, but said it is still a major opportunity “to get our voice into other circles outside of fashion.”
The industry should continue to engage and collaborate with governments, NGOs, philanthropic organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and Gates Foundation, as well as the banks and investments funds that will attend, especially at the edition dubbed “the finance COP.”
For example, H&M’s climate impact lead Henrik Sundberg will be speaking at two panels on decarbonization on Saturday, alongside Perkins.
“We know the elephant in the room is overproduction [and] volume waste,” Perkins said. But he highlighted that established mass retailers such as H&M and Inditex have been making investments in next generation materials, recycling technology and moving to renewable energy that have the potential to transform the industry. “If they get it right, all of the models, the consumer-facing models, on shared economy, circular economy and clean production, then it sets the stage for everyone else.”
H&M, along with Inditex, Kering and Stella McCartney, were key signatories to Canopy’s joint purchase agreement unveiled at COP in 2022, and the Swedish group launched its collaborative finance tool at last year’s edition.
“We do see a lot of the same brands consistently stepping forward — that needs to change. Transforming these long, linear, extractive supply chains really does require all hands on deck….It’s not moving nearly fast enough, and we haven’t seen the groundswell of brands needed to shift the value chain,” Rycroft said.
Much of that shift will come from policy initiatives that support transition funding, such as tax breaks and subsidies for innovators, public-private research and development, and purchase incentives for brands.
The industry is making strides in new materials and textile recycling, but those are often siloed into capsule collections and not put into mainstream production, Perkins said.
They’ve also publicized bold decarbonization targets. “But the reality is they’re not backing that up with sourcing and purchasing decisions,” he said, which leaves suppliers in the financial lurch and reticent to make further investments.
The small but growing COPs focused on biodiversity and desertification are also an important addition to the conversation, but as initiatives move around, buzzwords such as biodiversity, regenerative agriculture and circularity are pushed to the forefront as “the next big thing,” which can distract from the larger goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, Perkins added.
“It’s really critical that the industry sees follow-through on commitments they’ve made before they jump to the next ones. It’s a sector that’s infamous [for it] because of the marketing. Brands, at the end of the day, really are marketing engines for products,” he said, calling for companies to look at the big picture. “[Brands] are able to kind of swing with the trends, as opposed to saying, ‘Sure, it’s all that, and they’re all interconnected.”
“We are in systems change mode,” added Perkins as the industry makes critical, foundational reforms. Brands attending COP need to be upfront about what is working, where they are falling short, short- and long-term targets and engage frankly with other attendees. “Those of you in the room, whether you’re coming from investment banking or government, how can you join us?”
