Weekly article N°2

New report says fashion brands ‘failed to even show up’ when
addressing climate change By Leah Dolan, CNN, Thu July 13, 2023

The Fashion Transparency Index — an annual review established by

the group in 2017 — ranks major labels on their level of openness
around company practices pertaining to human rights and
environmental policies. “Transparency is only the starting point, and it
seems many brands have failed to even show up to the race,” reads
the introduction of the report released today. Instead, it asserts, “There
are vested interests in showcasing empty promises and unambitious
targets which are ill-equipped to save us from the climate crisis, while
continuing absurd excess, wage theft and the draining of our shared
planet.”

The study collates publicly available data on brands with an annual

turnover of more than USD $400 million — including fashion companies
across fast fashion, luxury, sportswear, denim and accessories. None of
the information released today by Fashion Revolution is verified or
audited by an independent party, but rather the report exists as a
dossier of claims the group hopes stakeholders can use to “hold
brands to account.”
This year, addressing living wages and worker inequality became a
new area of focus for Fashion Revolution, which since July 2022 has
been campaigning for an increase in salaries across global supply
chains. For the 2023 Index, the group asked 250 major brands for
information on the weekly take-home pay for entry-level workers, the
number of workers paid “by piece” in their supply chains (meaning
payments are directly correlated to how much they can produce, rather
than time worked) and the proportion of workers paid at least minimum
wage.

According to the report, 99% of those asked did not disclose the
number of workers in their supply chains being paid a living wage. The
remaining 1% said they had provided wages higher than required by
local law — Fashion Revolution points out this is, in many cases, not
the same as a livable wage.

Other findings in the report addressed industry shortcomings in the

face of the ongoing climate crisis. According to the Index, 94% of the
industry’s top brands do not publicly disclose what fuels are used to
manufacture their clothes. Just 6% admitted to relying on coal to
power at least some of their supply chains, and only 9% revealed
steps taken to decarbonize their production lines.

However, the report also claims more brands are communicating their
approach to due diligence (identifying human rights, environmental
risks and stakeholder impact across supply chains). Today, 68% of the
brands publish their processes for identifying human rights issues in
their supply chains; 49% share their approach for environmental issues.
The Index posits this uptick is likely spurred by incoming
legislation such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence
Directive proposed by the European Commission in February 2022 —
rules that will ensure businesses properly address the adverse effect
of their actions on the environment and humans.

The report scores the 250 brands by their transparency and converts
those scores into percentages. This year, 18 brands scored just 0-5%,
meaning they disclosed nothing at all or very little in relation to human
rights and climate issues. 210 of the 250 brands received less than
50%, and just two companies were deemed 80% transparent.
“The issues in the fashion industry never fall on any single person,
brand, or company,” reads the Index. “That’s why we focus on using our
voices to transform the entire system.”