Fashion accounts for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions and is the second-most polluting industry in the world. But in an increasingly climate-conscious society, it is increasingly trying to present itself as sustainable to appeal to customers.
One big target is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for the past two decades many brands have signed up to a scheme called the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent body that awards grades for environmental performance.
However, the Guardian can exclusively reveal how the fashion industry’s impact on the planet is being hidden. Thanks to the way the scores are calculated, household names such as H&M and Nike can claim an overall decrease in annual carbon dioxide emissions – and receive high scores from the CDP – despite their actual emissions increasing.
It’s all about the fine print. These fashion brands do report their gross global emissions, but these are calculated against total revenue. This means that as long as their emissions increase less than their revenue increases each year, the total emissions are scored as a decrease. In Nike’s 2020 climate change report, it describes how “emissions increased 1% year over year, which was offset by 7% year-on-year revenue growth, resulting in over a 5% drop in emissions per revenue in [financial year 2019]”.
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