Germana Carillo Fashion Revolution launches new 'What Fuels Fashion' report that reveals the world's biggest fashion brands aren't working fast enough to reduce fossil fuels
The fashion industry continues to be a significant polluter, showing little initiative to reverse the trend. From chemical discharges into waterways to staggering amounts of waste and a fast fashion culture that encourages excessive consumption, many brands flaunting green certifications still blatantly violate numerous regulations.
Nearly a quarter of the world’s largest fashion brands lack decarbonization plans, indicating that the climate crisis is not a priority for them. Only four out of 250 have ambitious emission reduction targets that meet the United Nations’ required level of ambition.
These insights come from the latest report, “What Fuels Fashion”? by the movement Fashion Revolution, which examined 250 major brands and retailers for their transparency regarding sustainability. The report analyzed 70 criteria, including emission goals and renewable energy use. Many well-known brands, such as Urban Outfitters and Dolce & Gabbana, scored very low, while others like Puma and Gucci reached relatively high levels of sustainability.
The report
The Fashion Revolution report reveals that the fashion industry is significantly lagging in meeting climate goals and reducing emissions. A staggering 86% of companies do not have a public goal for phasing out coal, 94% lack a public renewable energy target, and 92% have no public renewable electricity target for their supply chains. Less than half (43%) of brands are transparent about their operational energy sourcing, and even fewer (10%) are transparent at the supply chain level.
Furthermore, no major fashion brand discloses the hourly electricity consumption of its supply chain. Consequently, zero-emission claims by major fashion brands may be disconnected from the actual grid reality, creating a false sense of progress towards climate goals, according to the study.
Another significant finding is that most major fashion brands (89%) do not disclose how many garments they produce each year. Alarmingly, nearly half (45%) do not reveal either their earnings or the emission footprint of the raw materials used in production. This indicates that the industry prioritizes resource exploitation while avoiding accountability for the environmental damage caused by production.
Regarding suppliers, despite being the largest emitters with the greatest financial responsibility in decarbonization, almost all (94%) major fashion brands do not disclose their investments in supply chain decarbonization. Only 6% report contributions, often to joint climate funds like the Fashion Climate Fund and the Future Supplier Initiative. These funds offer loans to suppliers for infrastructure, such as solar panels. However, burdening suppliers with loans to meet the brands’ climate goals perpetuates existing power imbalances between fashion brands, their suppliers, and the workers making our clothes.
The 10 worst fashion brands
Here are some of the lowest-scoring brands in 2024, according to the report:
- Aeropostale
- BCBGMAXAZRIA
- Beanpole
- Billabong
- DKNY
- Longchamp
- Max Mara
- Mexx
- Reebok
- Saks Fifth Avenue
The 10 best fashion brands (at least on paper)
The highest-scoring brands in 2024 are:
- Puma 75%
- Gucci 74%
- Champion 58%
- Calzedonia 52%
- Intimissimi 52%
- Tezenis 52%
- Decathlon 51%
- ASICS 50%
- Hermès 49%
- Adidas 49%
