Sustainability
IAF Food for Thought
In light of his serious concerns along with his urgent call for action and better-targeted collaborations, Dave Gardner, (Editor/Publisher), and Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh (Senior International Correspondent) decided to bring the following statement by Cem Altan to the attention of The NEEDLE’S EYE readers. This should be food for thought to all of us with what the entrepreneur and president of the world’s leading apparel association, the IAF (International Apparel Federation) has to say.
The sound of the machine in Brussels churning out proposals for laws for a greener industry is becoming increasingly loud. And as IAF President, I recognize that our industry to some extent simply needs legislation to push it out of its unsustainable, low-cost trap.
The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), an organization that IAF is closely collaborating with, just reported that “Assuming business-as-usual growth for the apparel sector, emissions are projected to be 1.266 Gt (gigatons) in 2030. To stay within a 1.5°C trajectory (45% reduction by 2030), the sector would need to reduce emissions from 0.889 Gt in 2019 to 0.489 Gt by 2030.”Considering that the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of our industry grew by nearly 1% between 2019 and 2021 it is clear that something drastic needs to be done if the apparel and textile industry is to contribute to the GHG reduction that the world has agreed to.
However, some of the ideas of legislators are very light on economic reality. Reacting to the recent Report on the European Union Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, the President of the Portuguese clothing and textile federation ATP, Mário Jorge Machado, said, “The European Parliament seems not to have correctly assessed that sustainability and competitiveness must necessarily go hand-in-hand, requiring a balance between both objectives.”
He adds that it is also necessary to consider the brands and consumers so that they assume their responsibility because only with all the players involved and committed to the objectives and in the action, effective steps can be taken in this evolution.”
Cem Altan is Chief Executive Officer at Cenka Tekstil, Founder & Managing Director at Aycem Tekstil. Since May 2021 he leads the IAF in his role as president. Furthermore Altan acts as a board member of Istanbul Apparel Exporters Association (IHKIB) and the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association (TCMA).
It is exactly this shared responsibility across the supply chain that IAF stands for. Too often we see the mechanism where brands, retailers, and politicians make promises to go green but pass on the bill and the risks to their suppliers. The end result is simply that nothing changes. So legislation is not enough and if not designed or executed correctly it can even be counterproductive.
What exactly does work and how sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand will be the core topics of IAF’s 38th World Fashion Convention, October 23-25 in Philadelphia. Brands, retailers, manufacturers, experts, and academics will discuss what this shared responsibility looks like in practice and how together we really can turn our industry around.
Cem Altan, IAF President
What exactly does work and how sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand will be the core topics of IAF’s 38th World Fashion Convention, October 23-25 in Philadelphia. Brands, retailers, manufacturers, experts, and academics will discuss what this shared responsibility looks like in practice and how together we really can turn our industry around.
Cem Altan, IAF President