UNEP to launch global roadmap to promote textile sustainability

07 / 05 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will launch a global roadmap for the textile sector that will outline how players throughout the value chain can work together to promote sustainability, said Bettina Heller, Textile Program Officer at the UNEP.

“We need to come together to address the issues that are facing the textile industry if we’re to meet the Paris Agreement targets and Sustainable Development Goals,” said Heller.

Within this context, the United Nations has created the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. The alliance is an umbrella group composed of several UN and partner agencies, including UNEP, the International Labor Organization and the World Bank Group.

It has been helping the fashion sector to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, humanity’s blueprint for a better future, since March 2019. For instance, in Kenya, UNEP collaborated with the International Trade Center to provide policy recommendations for a more circular textile sector.

Kenyan small- and medium-sized enterprises are now benefiting from technical support to innovate their business models and measure their product environment footprint.

Experts say that is crucial for a sector that is responsible for up to 8 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and consumes 215 trillion liters of water per year, enough to fill 86 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.