Fashion Brands Advocacy Statement

The Textile, Garment, Leather, and Footwear sector (TGLF) is one of the largest sectors in the global economy. Unfortunately, it is characterized by poor working conditions and worker’s and smallholder farmers’ rights violations. Moreover, it has a great impact on the environment and thus also on climate. Hazardous chemicals, resource depletion and biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and the million tons of textile waste are some of the many concerns.

On the 23rd of February, the European Commission published its proposal for a Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive (CSDD). This directive will make it mandatory for some companies in the EU and operating in the EU market to conduct due diligence of their human rights and the environmental adverse impacts in their supply chains. The scope of the proposal is limited to big companies, thus leaving out 99% of EU companies which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

On the 30th of March, the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textile was released. Even though we welcome the strategy and the ambition it shows when it comes to recycling and environmental aspects, the strategy almost completely leaves out social and economic sustainability. Therefore, it is important that the CSDD-directive tackles the specific problems in the textile sector that the Textile strategy has not provided solutions to. A central issue that should have been addressed is unfair trading practices. These practices are common in the Textile sector and the root cause to many of human rights abuses and environmental risks in the sector.