Some in the industry are becoming more vocal in suggesting that government, not brands, should be responsible for violations deep in the luxury supply chain and things are getting political.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/luxury-hits-back-on-sweatshop-scandals-were-not-the-financial-police/?utm_source=newsletter_dailydigest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily_Digest_271025&utm_term=F2G5L7RRDVBHJKFPPHLF5MQRAY&utm_content=top_story_2_dek
Whether the fashion industry is or isn’t in a so-called “sustainability retreat,” as Tufts University professor Ken Pucker first described a year ago, has been a bone of contention. What some have characterized as a much-needed reset to adapt to turbulent economic and geopolitical realities is being interpreted by others as a feckless rollback of once-vaunted, if perhaps overly confident, greenhouse gas ambitions.
https://sourcingjournal.com/sustainability/sustainability-news/fashion-industry-sustainability-retreat-climate-commitments-1234783318/
The company’s emissions fell by a third in five years, but retiring its 2040 net-zero pledge puts the brand at odds with the mainstream.
https://trellis.net/article/ralph-lauren-rolling-emissions-ditches-net-zero-target/
Even with high tariffs, says Ken Pucker, former chief operating officer of Timberland, an American footwear and apparel company, the economics of apparel making “continue to be overwhelmingly in favor of low-wage countries.” The U.S. lacks the skilled workforce, supplier network, and machinery to mass produce garments after decades of offshoring, he says.
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2025/0821/trump-tariffs-imports-consumer-culture?icid=rss
BP, PepsiCo, FedEx and others are retreating from climate pledges, showing that voluntary action isn’t enough to tackle the growing carbon emission crisis
https://sustainabilitymag.com/news/voluntary-not-compulsory-the-change-of-environmental-goals
Coca-Cola, BP, HSBC and countless others are dropping environmental goals, highlighting the inadequacy of voluntary action.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-06-12/climate-pledges-dropped-by-coca-cola-bp-hsbc-as-planet-heats-up?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0OTczNzE4MiwiZXhwIjoxNzUwMzQxOTgyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTWFFTMEVEV1gyUFMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIzRjRGRUZFRDYwMzQ0Q0RDQjlGMTIwNTMyNzFCMUVBQiJ9.-J-3klDvYKh-TIgtwS7ZKPWLwaLmSej9ESX2K066Aw4&leadSource=uverify%20wall&embedded-checkout=true&sref=fnjoKOAK
SHEIN’s climate targets gained SBTi approval, however fast fashion critics have ongoing concerns over ethics, transparency and environmental harm
https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/why-is-shein-facing-scepticism-despite-sbti-approval
Trump’s policies challenge notions of corporate responsibility and undermine environmental, social, and governance concerns, but it’s still possible to invest your values.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91339495/is-esg-investing-even-still-a-thing
Apparel industry experts weigh in on the Swedish fast-fashion giant’s latest sustainability report.
https://trellis.net/article/how-hm-is-improving-its-footprint/?mkt_tok=MjExLU5KWS0xNjUAAAGZvouyuZH0PWwHsG1vqlf5Dm5JsLWYzXxLpqpXtPVJqCEHK7anrTjf8xYvDfgomXYNw8rR6vsQzCNSMIevHv61R2z0_8qg1ncxvYsgXSmJkw
“Unfortunately, I think it’s pretty compelling to buy a $7 pair of jeans if you’re not rich,” Ken Pucker, professor of practice at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and the former chief operating officer of Timberland, told me last year. “To a consumer, there’s no real functional benefit of sustainable fashion. Just perhaps a psychic benefit that they’re helping the planet.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/opinion/forever-21-bankrupt-fast-fashion.html