Textile Insight

EMISSIONS ESSENTIALS T he textile and apparel sectors have an important role to play in reducing the effects of climate change. According to the 2015 Paris Agreement, emissions need to be cut by 45 percent or more by 2030, and achieve net-zero by 2050, in order to reach the goal of limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5˚ C. A better understanding of carbon emissions and how they are measured is essential to making better material choices and manufacturing processes for a more sustainable future. CO2 is a greenhouse gas (GHG), which means in the atmosphere it absorbs the sun's energy to produce heat, much like a greenhouse. It is emitted when we burn fossil fuels and create buildings and infrastructure, and results from deforestation and agriculture. CO2 is the most plentiful of the GHGs, which also include methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gasses. Because CO2 dominates GHG emissions, the abbreviation CO2e is used as an equivalent term for GHG emissions. So while we use the term GHG for the emissions causing climate change, it's really all about CO2. CO2 Emissions in the Apparel Sector As an important driver of the industrial revolution, the apparel industry's factories and materials have been responsible for contributing to the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere for the last 270 years. Today's fast fashion trend is only making it worse. Published in September 2021, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) Roadmap for Net Zero estimated apparel sector emissions at 1.025 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2e in 2019, representing roughly 2 percent of annual GHG emissions. (Note: the World Bank and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation put this figure at 10 percent.) A gigatonne is one billion tonnes, or metric tons. To help visualize, a small car weighs about 1 tonne. Just imagine one billion small cars' worth of CO2 in the atmosphere. e WRI report also estimated that apparel sector emissions will grow to 1.588 Gt by 2030 if unchecked. W H Y CA R B O N ACCO U N T I N G I S S U STA I N A B I L I TY ' S B OT TO M L I N E B Y D E B R A CO B B F O C U S TO P I C : T H E J O U R N E Y TO C A R B O N N E U T R A L I T Y July 2022 ~ Textile Insight Functional Fabric Fair Special Edition • 9 textileinsight.com

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