After the Fashion Council Germany published the study “Status of German Fashion” in January 2021, the sequel is now following as announced: The second study published on March 31, 2022 called “German Fashion Footprint” follows, as the title suggests, the global effects the German fashion industry. It released 38 million tons of CO2 worldwide for the production of clothing and shoes – of which 2 million tons were almost 5 percent within Germany.
“This study for the Fashion Council Germany helps to clarify the fact that the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts of the fashion industry occur outside of Germany. However, measuring this impact is an important step in taking action. It is encouraging to see that the German government has launched some initiatives aimed at supporting more sustainable fashion and that companies in Germany are taking steps to track and reduce their global emissions,” comments Rob Harbron, Associate Director of Oxford Economics.
GIZ project manager and environmental expert Rahel Lemke points out that the study clarifies the environmental balance of the industry and its effects beyond the borders of Germany. “For this reason, on behalf of BMZ, GIZ supports initiatives such as the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles, the Green Button, but also global and bilateral development cooperation projects such as the Initiative for Global Solidarity or FABRIC in Asian production countries to improve the social and ecological conditions in the world to improve textile production,” explains Lemke.
“We need to be equally committed to environmental and social justice where the impacts actually occur,” agrees Magdalena Schaffrin, co-owner and creative strategist at Studio MM04.
Like the first study, the “German Fashion Footprint” was also carried out by the Oxford Economics Institute and accompanied by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Berlin strategy consultancy for innovation and sustainability Studio MM04 provided advice and is jointly responsible for the selection of the published case studies on About You, Hessnatur, Regenerate Fashion, Drip by Drip ev and Fashion Revolution Germany.
What is the environmental balance of the German fashion industry?
The study examines the environmental performance of the industry based on five main factors: greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, water use, energy demand and agricultural land use, but is based on data from 2019, i.e. before the production drop caused by the corona pandemic.
“Our study “Status of German Fashion” shows that the German fashion industry is an enormous economic heavyweight. The total contribution of the fashion industry to the German gross domestic product in 2019 was 66 billion euros. The fashion industry in Germany, including all its cross-sectoral sectors, employed 1.3 million people in 2019. The fashion industry lacks social acceptance and political support, such as in other European fashion nations such as France, Italy or Great Britain. It must be emphasized that Germany is in second place in Europe when it comes to the production of fashion products – ahead of France or Great Britain,” summarizes Fashion Council Germany Managing Director Scott Lipinski in an interview with FashionUnited.
water consumption and space requirements
In the introduction to the latest report, Lipinski also asked how much water is needed to keep Germany’s fashion industry from running dry (answer: around 6.5 billion cubic meters per year) and how much land is needed to clothe Germany and to produce so-called “German” textiles (2.5 million hectares, which is almost the area of Belgium with 3 million hectares).
Air pollutants and greenhouse gases
The emissions of the five air pollutants carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds were also calculated and estimated at 740,000 tons per year. Production and transport account for 38 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, which corresponds to the average annual emissions of 1.9 million German households.
power consumption
“We estimate that the German fashion industry had a total energy requirement of 535,000 terajoules in 2019 for its direct activities and as part of its supply chain,” says the energy consumption. This roughly corresponds to the total electricity consumption in the Netherlands (510,000 terajoules in 2018). Most (83 percent) was covered by fossil fuels, the rest by nuclear power and renewable energy sources.
Conclusion
The first step in reducing one’s environmental footprint is to determine and publish it, according to the International Monetary Fund in a guide to managing carbon emissions. This was done with the “German Fashion Footprint”.
“In addition, our analyzes show very clearly to what extent the German fashion industry operates globally: The greatest effects of the clothing sold in Germany are today mainly visible abroad due to the outsourcing of domestic production,” the study sums up.
What are the next steps?
The report refers to commitments by the largest German fashion brands to make their supply chains climate-neutral by 2050, government support and partnerships such as the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles and initiatives such as the state textile seal Grüner Knopf, which is intended to provide consumers with guidance when making purchasing decisions.
“Further government support is needed to give companies the tools and knowledge to calculate their environmental impact. Small companies in particular cannot cope with this on their own,” is the conclusion.
“We have to get to the point where the footprint of the German fashion industry is continuously measured in order to be able to better holistically evaluate the measures and initiatives taken by the sector, industry and politics. Only by making use of such an instrument will we be able to make the right decisions and develop new ideas in the future. We were very surprised at how little transparency there is along the value chain. We have to change that together,” adds Lipinski.
Accordingly, the report names organizations and initiatives in the appendix that focus on sustainability and transparency in the German fashion sector, including the Beneficial Design Institute based in Berlin, the Berlin agency for circular economy Circular.fashion, the Clean Clothes Campaign, Drip by Drip, the first NGO dedicated to the water problem in the industry, transparency software provider Retraced, the Good Garment Collective and Fair Wertung, the German association for fair recycling.