The Fashion Pact: Action or distraction? How far will the initiative really influence company decision making?

At the G7 Summit in August 2019, French President Macron, along with 32 major fashion brands, announced the Fashion Pact, an initiative aimed at aligning the apparel industry with the SDGs. The focus is on three major pillars: Climate, Biodiversity and Oceans. While the movement has been praised by many, it does also raise a few concerns. Might this be just another pledge distracting key actors from just getting on with it? Or will it really feed in and direct company decision making? The Pact is aimed to be adopted by 20% of the global fashion industry, but what about the rest? And given the initiative relies on the industry to self-regulate with no binding commitment, how will brands demonstrate measurable progress?

 

In this session we will discuss the targets of the new Pact, how far the initiative will really influence company strategy and what needs to be done to ensure it really does create an impact.