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The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), which started on 6 November in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt this year, was awaited with great interest. At the summit; Food and Agricultural Systems, Water and Nature Systems, Human Settlement Systems, Coastal and Ocean Systems, Infrastructure Systems, Cross-Cutting enablers: Planning and Finance were discussed and new decisions and targets were determined for these subjects.
Recognizing the importance of adapting to the increasing impacts of climate change, the COP27 Presidency announced the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, which includes 30 global adaptation outcome targets. Thus, by 2030, the 30 global adaptation outcome targets that are urgently needed to increase the resilience of 4 billion people against climate change have been put forward. It was also stated that these targets will be updated over time.
Click here to access the full version of the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda:
While it was decided at the COP27 Summit to "establish a fund for the compensation of losses and damages suffered by developing countries as a result of climate change", no agreement could be reached on the gradual reduction of fossil fuel use.
According to the European Commission, the textile and clothing sector in Europe is the third largest sector in terms of land use. Water use, which is linked to agricultural processes, has a huge impact at this point. According to research, the textile industry will need to halve its emissions by 2030. Companies should not miss opportunities to mitigate through decarbonization initiatives and process improvements.
Experts gathered there to discuss actions to accelerate the fashion industry's transition to a decarbonised future. While the discussions reflected the many challenges facing the fashion industry, participants also explained the importance of focusing on concrete action. Climate Activist and UNECE Advisor Lily Cole: "Science tells us the fashion industry's environmental footprint has deteriorated since COP26. We need to be more proactive. We need to talk about solutions, not just disaster scenarios."
More than half of the emissions of the textile and clothing sector originate from production-oriented supply chains.
Looking at agriculture, food, and fashion, we can see that it's a big part of the climate crisis problem we're dealing with today. If we change the way we use land, we can mobilize climate action at truly extraordinary speed and scale. Sustainability Commitments published by governments, investors and industry actors can become good practice for us. We can adapt these commitments, which allow us to produce practical solutions, to our own structure.
NEW FIBER COMMITMENT OF TEXTILE BRANDS AT COP27
Each year, more than 3.2 billion trees are cut down to produce fiber for packaging and clothing, and large amounts of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. Together with alternative approaches, we can prevent the destruction of forests by focusing on recycling. Moving to green solutions can help prevent 1Gt of CO2 emissions between now and 2030. At COP27, leading companies such as H&M, Inditex, Ben & Jerry's, Stella McCartney, HH Global and Kering announced their commitment to purchase more than half a million tons of regenerated cellulosic and other alternative fibers for fashion textiles and paper packaging.
Compared to forest fibres, with next-generation alternative solutions, on average 95% to 130% less CO2 emissions, 18% to 70% less fossil energy consumption, 88% to 100% less land use impact and at least five times lower has an effect. Unsustainable supply chains can be transformed, land is used correctly, processes are advanced transparently, and if we require many more green solutions, we can move forward.
