It is pointed out that the rise of fast fashion may cause enormous environmental damage in the future

ByAntonio Rubio

Mass production and mass sales of inexpensive clothing items in short cyclesFast fashionThe clothing production site is often a poor working environment and may be viewed as a problem.United Nations European Economic Commission (UNECE)According to Fast Fashion, besides the poor working environment, there is concern that it will have a huge impact on the environment in the future.

Fast fashion is caused an "environmental emergency" - Quartz
https://qz.com/1222569/fast-fashion-is-causing-an-environmental-emergency/

As of 2018, the fashion industry is a market with a scale of $ 2.5 trillion (about 265 trillion yen). One in six people around the world is engaged in work on fashion, and with the rise of fast fashion, poor working environment, child labor and exploitative practices are also considered problematic Thing. Furthermore, as a specific industry, we use the second water resource in the world, and about 2700 liters of water equivalent to 2.5 years' drinking water is needed to produce one cotton shirt, There is concern about pollution of water quality.


UNECE has positioned the fashion industry as unnegligible to achieve "sustainable development", such as reducing poverty and providing clean water and sanitation facilities. So on 1st March 2018 (Thursday) we held an international conference entitled "The Future and the Goal of Sustainable Development: The Role of the United Nations" in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the conference, Secretary General Olga Algherova said "The fashion industry needs to change gears."

Regular customers in the fashion industry tend to purchase more clothing than they did decades ago, but tend not to learn about half the time compared to before, and the lifespan of clothing is shortening . In the United States and Europe, the fashion needs "to buy cheap clothes in a short period of time" are changing, but on the other hand the needs for fast fashion are increasing in countries such as China, and in the future a similar pattern Is expected to be born.

ByClean Wal-Mart

UNECE expects that the population of the world middle class will increase from 3 billion in 2015 to 5.4 billion in 2030, and as the demand for middle class people to fast fashion will further increase, 2050 Pointed out that consumption of natural resources used for clothing will increase three times as much as in 2000.

What is regarded as problematic is not only the use of resources but also concerns about contamination due to increased use of energy used by apparel industry to produce clothing, insecticide used for cotton cultivation, chemicals necessary for dyeing and finishing It has been.

ByMarie

Furthermore, according to ClimateWorks Foundation and Quantis reports, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the apparel industry and the shoe industry as of 2018 is about 8% of the total, but nothing is changed in the production method If it does not happen, it is estimated that emissions will reach 49% of the Earth's total in 2030.

Natural Resource Protection Council (NRDC)"I think that the numbers shown in this report will be a strong message to retailers, fashion brands, customers, etc. and I think that it will be a good motivation to stop environmental damage," he said. Linda Greer said, I will.