Speech by Joan Ruddock MP, Starting on the road to sustainable clothing, Chatham House - 5 September 2007
Good morning and thank you to Chatham House for hosting this event.
I’m delighted to be here to help us work together to form a roadmap to improve the sustainability of clothing.
We already know, I think, that there are many clothing sustainability initiatives underway, but I would like to ask ourselves, all of us today, can we – between us – do more to improve the sustainability performance of clothing throughout its life cycle? From the raw material to the finished article to the end of life options when the garment is no longer wanted? Our challenge, I think, is to develop that roadmap.
At first glance the clothing industry looks like a global economic success story. A sector that is worth more than 1 trillion dollars worldwide. One that makes up 7% of the world’s exports, and employs 26 million people. One that supports economies both in the developed and the developing world. But also one than often has an expensive social and environmental price tag.
Let me give you some examples.
Producing clothes has a major impact on the world’s water supply. From the irrigated cotton fields of China and India, through the water intensive processes required to prepare dyes and finishes – everything has an impact on precious environmental resources.
But water, of course, is not the only scarce resource being consumed. Fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides are all being used to increase production of fibre crops. Fossil fuels, of course, are being burned to produce synthetic alternatives, and to wash and dry our clothes, generating a significant share of our greenhouse gas emissions.
The clothing industry can also have social and ethical impacts. Too many childhoods are spent picking cotton, enduring low wages and long hours. Too many adults spend their lives in sweatshops where there is little regard for their rights, their health, or their safety.
And these impacts don’t just affect people in the developing world they are also felt closer to home. And that’s not surprising if you stop and think about the demand that exists in this country, and how much pressure that places on our own resources.
In the last 10 years, the amount spent on clothing and textiles in this country has grown by 34%. That might be good for business but clearly it has an impact; it now stands at £38-40 billion. In 2006, UK clothing and textiles produced up to 2 million tonnes of waste, 3.1 million tonnes of CO2 and 70 million tonnes of waste water. Clothing imports into the EU as a whole now account for 42 per cent of the global market. In the UK only 10 per cent of clothing is manufactured, and 90% is imported.
It all adds up to a major environmental impact. So the challenge is – can the clothing industry develop a sustainable business model?
Only you – the experts – can tell us whether that can be the case, only you can answer that question but I hope today will act as something of a catalyst, spurring us all on to more action.
Through the sustainable clothing roadmap process, I hope we can improve our understanding of the issues and agree a way forward that will make a difference.
Partnership is key to the whole process. I believe Government and business can work together well so that we can be more than the sum of our parts. I believe we can share more and spur each other on.
And of course we’re not starting from scratch. There are plenty of examples of people in the industry already seeing sustainability as an opportunity, not a threat. People who are taking an active role in ethically sourcing, designing and producing clothing throughout the supply chain.
Look at Katharine Hamnett, and the sustainable clothing range she launched last year with Tesco. Katharine’s clothing range uses raw materials grown without chemical fertilisers and manufactured and dyed in an environmentally sustainable way.
And other major high street retailers, as you know, such as Asda and M&S, are also taking forward a number of activities to help tackle the social and environmental impacts of the clothing that hangs on their rails. There is a growing awareness that trading sustainably and successfully can be a viable business model – you’ve only got to look at the popularity of all the fair trade and organic initiatives in so many of our our shops these days.
On the social side of the equation the Ethical Trading Initiative and the Labour Behind the Label campaign show that collaboration can make a difference to the working practices of millions of people around the world. And animal welfare, another key issue associated with clothing, is addressed by organisations such as the RSPCA and PETA, who play a key role in raising awareness and campaigning for the ethical treatment of animals.
But you know, as in everything, there are contradictions in consumer behaviour. I know that because I’m one of them. I read the fashion magazines and I love buying clothes. I want to buy ethically but I’m also concerned about the price. Who hasn’t been tempted to pick up a cheap instant fashion purchase and wondered with a conscience afterwards how on earth it was produced at that price? So we all need to think more carefully about how we shop and retailers can do much more to encourage us. Because the interest is out there – the body of ethical shoppers is growing and fashion journalists and magazines are keeping pace with the green scene. Just in the last few days my Sunday Observer had a timely article on the organic T-shirt and how vital it was to ensure the cotton wasn’t picked by child labourers, and in Monday’s Guardian, of course, a whole front page focussed again on the conditions for garment factory workers in India. For some of you those articles make uncomfortable reading but they are essential to the process of public education and to raising companies’ accountability.
So I’m very grateful to all of you who have already indicated a willingness to be part of this stakeholder interaction, and to my officials who have worked so hard to bring all this about. I hope through the clothing roadmap we will be able to highlight good practice, celebrate successes and agree practical actions to improve the sustainability performance of clothing across the whole life cycle.
Personally I can’t wait to see progress on the road map – already I’m examining the labels on my clothes and trying to remember where I purchased them – I was almost afraid to get dressed today! So far I’ve managed to commit all my cast-offs to reuse or recycling. I’ve adjusted my clothes washing to 30° but I haven’t yet found a green dry cleaner.
I’m optimistic. There’s much room for improvement, but there’s huge potential, and I know that’s going be described by subsequent speakers.
So let’s work together to make this year’s wardrobe a green one. Dare I say it - other colours are so last year!
Thank you.
Page last modified: 5 September 2007
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5 September 2007