Lower Impact Materials

Fashion is far more than just the final product. To truly tackle the industry’s impact, we need to look at every element of production. And that means starting at the very beginning, looking at the raw materials that go on to become garments and ensuring that their impact is as low as possible.

Upstream supply chain activities such as production, preparation and processing of materials represent the fashion and textile industry’s greatest impact in terms of emissions.

A 2022 report from Textile Exchange confirms that drastic changes need to be made along the supply chain if the industry hopes to reduce emissions and keep in line with the 1.5°C warming limit goal.

Based on a mapping of opportunities for collective actions to enable progress towards a net-zero future, we have decided to focus our efforts on actions that will help transition the industry to the uptake of more sustainable material alternatives.

Finding collective system solutions to adopt low impact materials, going faster together

Our ambition is to scale the availability of increased Lower impact materials* on the market across the value chain, ensuring that 25% of members’ key raw materials are lower impact materials by 2025.

Unlock Cotton

A significant number of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the textile value chain come from the ‘Tier 4’ raw material stage. The Unlock Programme is a system that creates incentives for cotton farmers to shift to low climate impact and regenerative farming practices. Its aim is to lessen the barriers in moving to better practices, including increased up-front costs, a lack of detailed information on current impacts, or a lack of immediate financial incentives. By addressing these barriers, Unlock aims to support farmers to decarbonise and reduce the environmental impacts of production, support farmer livelihoods, and ultimately increase the production of low climate impact materials.

Unlock measures GHG emissions alongside other key metrics such as farmer livelihoods, biodiversity, soil health and water, and is designed to be compatible with almost any existing initiative in order to provide measurement of outcomes and additional farmer support. Unlock ended its pilot phase in India and the USA in 2024, with promising results demonstrating how cross-industry collaboration can reduce emissions and promote sustainable livelihoods for farmers. Pilot activities achieved 200-600 kg of carbon reductions per hectare in India, and an average of 950 kg of removals and 2000 kg of reductions per hectare in the US. To learn more, click here.

Unlock is now scaling up in the US and India, and will aim to expand to new geographies in 2025. Unlock has enrolled more than 10,000 farmers in 2024, and if it can replicate or improve the pilot phase outcomes, this would translate into at least 10,000 tonnes of emissions reductions and removals and up to €1.2 million of payments to farmers. Brands participating in Unlock are given the opportunity to support farmers and claim Scope 3 GHG benefits within their own value chain through the use of Unlock’s detailed GHG quantification and accounting approaches.

Collecting cotton from a cotton field at sunset.

Geographies: Initial pilot phase conducted in US and India, with plans to scale to additional geographies.

Timeline: Following completion of the pilot, the scaling phase has now begun, with more than 10,000 farmers enrolled for the 2024 growing season across India and the USA.

Partners: Project developed in collaboration with climate technical consultancy firm 2050 and some of the world’s leading technical advisors, data partners, and cotton programmes. The programme is now housed within Future Earth Lab, a registered charity, that will take forward the development and delivery of Unlock. The Fashion Pact will remain engaged to support the scaling of the programme.

Learn more here.

Aerial shot of the top of cloud filled sky with the tip of the mountain peaking from the left.

*lower impact material is defined by the criteria set out in the Textile Exchange definition of a preferred fiber or material or the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action targets related to raw materials which includes preferred and low climate impact

Tools & Resources

The Fashion Pact Taking Stock 2050 & SYSTEMIQ

An analysis identifying levers where the fashion sector can make the biggest impact through a science-based approach. This mapping helped The Fashion Pact to prioritize areas of action where collective approach can bring value. Some of the key findings were energy transition, alternative materials and circular business models. Date of publication: 2020

Suppliers Tier 1 Support Package

A document which can be used either by producers, suppliers, or by brands and retailers wanting to work with suppliers to learn more about supply chain action. Date of publication: 2022

Suppliers Tier 2 Support Package

A guidance aiming to help fashion companies get started and accelerate their progress on climate. Specifically, this guidance sets out to present cost-effective climate strategies, provide clarity on the basic steps to develop a climate strategy, a useful overview of related terminology and ideals, and connect you to the right external guidance documents and organizations. Date of publication: 2022