Fashion & Textiles
Fashion & Textiles
Dressed for the Future: Decarbonizing the World's Wardrobe
Textiles are woven into the fabric of daily life — and into the climate crisis too. The textiles industry is already responsible for almost 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and fast fashion is pushing that number ever higher, with emissions projected to rise more than 50% by 2030. The problem is twofold: most fabrics are plastic-based synthetics made from oil and gas, and the energy-intensive manufacturing process runs mainly on coal. Without a fundamental rethink of how we make our clothes, fashion risks setting one of the most destructive climate trends of our time — but with the right breakthroughs, it could set a new standard for climate progress instead.
Emissions not estimated by IPCC
Innovation Imperatives
Innovation Imperatives
Critical needs that can help accelerate the path to net zero
Circular Textiles
Reinvent the fashion industry by designing for circularity and reuse
Today's fast fashion industry operates on a linear ”take-make-waste” model, where billions of garments are produced, worn briefly, and discarded, with less than 1% of the material ever recycled into new clothing. The industry needs to be reinvented from scratch by embedding circularity at the very start: the design phase. This means creating garments with modular components and separable fibers that are designed for easy disassembly, repair, and reuse. Design changes must be paired with new business models that encourage reuse, such as scaling up platforms that empower rental, resale, and repair to extend the life of every garment. By combining circular design with a decarbonized supply chain, this approach tackles the industry's massive footprint from every angle.
Sustainable Fibers
Invent and scale the next generation of low-carbon textiles
The modern fashion industry relies heavily on fossil fuels: over 63% of all fibers produced today are plastic-based synthetics derived from oil and gas, locking massive embodied emissions into our clothes. There is ample opportunity to invent and scale new sustainable textiles that replace petroleum-based fabrics. Promising avenues include commercializing low-carbon biomaterials, developing next-generation cellulosics, and pioneering bio-based leather alternatives that have a fraction of the climate impact. These advanced materials have the potential to lay a new foundation for the fashion industry, enabling us to decarbonize our wardrobes and create garments that are designed from the start for both performance and sustainability.
Tech Categories
Tech Categories
Groupings of climate technologies
| Cluster Name | Readiness | |
|---|---|---|
| Alternative Fibers | n/a | |
Alternative fibers that are produced using sustainable materials, such as organic cotton, agricultural waste, and bio-based leather alternatives, can be used as substitutes for traditional, fossil-derived and resource-intensive fibers. | ||
| Production & Process Efficiency | n/a | |
Production & process efficiency across spinning, weaving and knitting; dry processing; dying and printing; and powering apparel plant operations with electric energy powered by renewables instead can all reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transforming fibers into garments. | ||
| Textile Circularity | n/a | |
Textile circularity reduces apparel incineration and landfill rates while providing the fibers for new garments at a fraction of the environmental impact of primary materials. Advancements in chemical textile-to-textile recycling, sorting and blend-identification technologies, and circular clothing designs can all improve textile recyclability and increase the stream of secondary fibers into textile and apparel manufacturing. Improvements in design and materials can extend the lifespan of apparel as well. |
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References
