Speech by Joan Ruddock MP speech to the Rite Group International Conference and Exhibition, London - 10 October 2007
Thank you for inviting me here today and giving me the opportunity to speak at your first international conference.
I’m sure the day will be an outstanding success and will prove that when it comes to sustainable textiles your industry is not only talking the talk but also walking the cat walk.
It’s also encouraging to see that you felt that there was a need to create RITE.
This shows that there is a commitment within the industry to minimise the negative effects that clothing can have on the environment.
A commitment that the Government is very, very happy to support. And I hope today will help to forge a long and fruitful partnership that will enable us all to realise our goals and improve the sustainability of clothing.
Today’s conference comes hot on the heels of the recent launch of Defra’s Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, which is part of a larger body of work that we’re looking at in Government on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
It is one of ten product roadmaps currently being developed. We selected those roadmaps from product groups including food and drink, transport, buildings, and clothing and textiles.
Specific products under focus range from milk, fish and shellfish through to televisions, domestic lighting, commercial motors, window systems, and on to plasterboard, WCs and cars, and so on and so forth.
The idea of each roadmap is to capture evidence on the sustainability impacts of each product across its life cycle. Then, building on the evidence, the roadmaps will be used to develop practical actions to mitigate these effects.
The roadmaps are being developed collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders. And they will serve as a platform for government, industry, academia, and NGOs to work together across the supply chain to drive down the bad effects of those products on the environment and move towards a more sustainable future.
We see the roadmaps as a pilot approach. A new and innovative way for Government to work with stakeholders to address the environmental impacts associated with those products on which we’re focussing.
In addressing the impacts of clothing, an early and integral step in the roadmap process has been to build our evidence base. To establish the facts and get a clearer understanding of what the impacts are and where in the life cycle they are occurring. Defra has commissioned a study to collect the wealth of evidence that is already available and we will publish the results later this year. I hope that will be of interest to you.
We’re also taking account of what’s already in place to improve the sustainability of clothing so we’re building on, rather than duplicating it and finding out where good practice lies. One of the roles of the clothing roadmap will be to highlight best practice and celebrate success. I’m pleased to say that I’ve seen many examples of this – including today’s event; as I went round the stalls I was really seeing commitment, really seeing innovation.
I know that you are all aware of the environmental, social, and ethical impacts associated with clothing, so I won’t reiterate them but just highlight how these impacts are exacerbated by the huge volumes of clothes that we consume in the UK.
In the last 10 years, the amount spent on clothing and textiles, in this country, has grown by 34% and stands at approximately £38 billion, representing around 2 million tonnes per annum. I know this is probably good for some of your businesses but, as we know, it can have an impact in other areas.
It’s clear that many of Britain's shoppers have bought into the rather unsustainable idea of fast fashion
Now, I understand where people are coming from - people want to wear what the stars wear and many of you as retailers are rushing to provide it.
Many people have become more interested with the way that celebrities dress because they’ve found that kind of dress accessible to them. And they want to be able to buy into the trends that they've seen on the catwalk as soon as possible. And many of you - as switched on businesses - are good at reproducing them very quickly.
But this ‘fast fashion’ comes at a cost. Cheap to produce fashion items can be thrown in the bin after being worn just two or three times, adding to the already enormous mountain of waste that this country produces.
So we need to look closely at this trend and see if there is any way of reducing its impacts.
And there is more evidence of new thinking. In some sectors of the market a number of consumers and organisations are raising the issue of ethical trading and sustainability.
You will know of the Ethical Trading Initiative, which has been set up to improve the lives of poor working people around the world. The initiative brings together a wide range of organisations from all parts of society to establish corporate codes of practice covering the working conditions in a number of supply chains.
Many of you participating here today, including M&S , Timberland, Patagonia and Levi Strauss, are also taking forward a range of activities to help tackle the social and environmental impacts of the clothing that hangs in your stores.
You demonstrate clearly that there is a growing awareness that trading sustainably and successfully can be a viable business model.
Increasingly fair trade and organic ranges are on sale in UK stores, organic ranges alone appearing in over 120 retail outlets. Innovative niche designers and brands such as Edun, Enamore, and People Tree are showing the way with organic cotton as well as innovative new fibres like the more environmentally friendly hemp and bamboo.
Good progress is also being made in other ways: via industry standards, via labels and voluntary agreements in reducing the toxicity problems associated with dyes and detergents used for clothing. Initiatives like the Wash at 30º campaign and Energy Labels on washers and dryers are designed to reduce the amount of energy we use. And reducing the energy, of course, is absolutely integral to reducing the climate change impacts of laundering.
The sustainability of clothing, I’m glad to say, is starting to have a growing public profile. Articles on the environmental and ethical choices facing consumers are a regular feature in the fashion media with Elle, Vogue and Vanity Fair now all publishing annual “green” issues.
Only yesterday ‘The Independent’ carried an absolutely fascinating article on how climate change itself is actually changing fashion. It highlighted the fact that insiders now inside the fashion industry felt there were no longer distinct fashion seasons. And by all accounts US fashion giants are now hiring climatologists to plan their next collections.
I personally had the pleasure of attending a sustainable clothing event, Estethica, at London Fashion Week last month. I was absolutely amazed at the range of products and the quality of design. I have to say sadly my civil servants didn’t allow me time to do any ordering, and I’m not sure everything came in my size! But the biggest eye-opener for me were those garments that were beautifully soft, incredibly supple and in lovely colours made of hemp and bamboo. I was amazed to learn that hemp and bamboo are now being used in high fashion garments. Such new experiences always give cause for optimism and reinforce my belief in the power of innovation. I also had the opportunity to speak to a number of designers, as I did today, about their collections and hear their views on sustainable fashion. What astonished me was that they were, as you are, so passionate about the subject, so keen to make genuine improvements in the sustainability of the products that they work with every day. They are showing others that the business case for sustainable fashion is increasing in strength.
I am extremely optimistic and I know you’re willing and committed to getting the sustainable clothing market moving from niche to mainstream. I look forward to working with you further.
Thank you
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10 October 2007