The Climate Pledge, alongside Amazon, Stella McCartney and Canopy, has co-founded The Climate Pledge Fashion Coalition, with convening support from the World Economic Forum, to help more than 60 Climate Pledge signatories reach net-zero carbon by 2040.
The coalition brings together fashion brands, innovators, manufacturers and retailers representing every stage of the fashion value chain. By combining collective demand with new financing models and new tools like the Fashion Coalition Lever Library, it aims to help more sustainable materials and processes scale across the industry and reduce environmental effects across fashion supply chains.
According to the announcement, the materials and processes that could significantly reduce fashion's environmental footprint are currently too expensive, too scarce or too fragmented to compete with conventional alternatives at scale. Rather than focusing solely on end-of-life solutions, the coalition targets innovation earlier in the product lifecycle, supporting the development, commercialization and adoption of materials and processes with measurably lower environmental footprints. That includes organic, recycled and next-generation fibers made from waste feedstocks, as well as manufacturing technologies that reduce water use, chemical inputs and emissions.
The coalition is structuring financing to encourage investment by aligning demand across signatories at each stage of the supply chain. Working with the World Economic Forum, it is developing blended financing mechanisms that combine development finance institution de-risking with private capital to unlock investment at scale. It is also connecting members with solutions through the Fashion Coalition Lever Library, built in consultation with more than 30 brands and suppliers, covering over 100 proven and emerging solutions, fiber-by-fiber guidance and a directory of innovators. Through Next Gen Now, a Canopy-led initiative, the coalition connects signatories with materials and technologies ready for commercial adoption, and it aims to inform policy by demonstrating that production-stage innovation works at scale.
"Fashion has no shortage of ambition on sustainability. People are already looking for more sustainable options when they shop, and now the industry needs to deliver at scale," said Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon.
Stella McCartney, Founder and Creative Director of Stella McCartney, said: "The Climate Pledge Fashion Coalition is about turning innovation into infrastructure, creating real demand for the next generation of materials and giving the pioneers a pathway from breakthrough to industry standard."
Fashion-focused Climate Pledge signatories include Anna Sui, Another Tomorrow, Bananatex, Biofluff, Brooks Running, Christopher Esber, Circ, Ciucani, Collina Strada, DL1961, E.L.V Denim, Faherty, Mother Denim, Pure.Tech, Selfridges, unspun and Vestiaire Collective.