Making Climate Change Fashionable: Garment Industry Takes on Global Warming

Since the COP21 climate change talks took place in Paris earlier this month, it’s nice to see real progress on fronts rarely discussed. Lots of industries other than energy production—agriculture, iron and metal smelting, cement production, waste treatment and the fashion industry—are important sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

The apparel industry accounts for 10 percent of global carbon emissions and remains the second largest industrial polluter, second only to oil.

This shouldn’t be surprising since it’s a $3 trillion global industry. The apparel market in the U.S. takes the top spot throughout the world, contributing close to a third of the global total.