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Fashion's Duty to Tackle Climate Change

As one of the largest and most polluting industries on the planet, fashion must also do its part to tackle global climate change.
Source: Shutterstock
By
  • Imran Amed

HONG KONG, China — Beijing residents were up in arms this week, as another wave of toxic pollutants clouded the skies over the Chinese capital, making headlines across Greater China and around the world. On Monday, readings of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) — dangerous because it can enter the bloodstream via the lungs — reached 587 micrograms per cubic metre, more than 23 times the World Health Organization's recommended limit for human exposure and literally off the charts (the upper limit of the scale tops out at 500). So thick was the smog that drivers had to use their headlights in the middle of the day and the most daring pedestrians were donning carpenter masks.

It's the latest sign of a planet in the midst of a climate crisis, in a year which will go down as the warmest year in history. Meanwhile, Chinese president Xi Jinping, US president Barack Obama and other global leaders were gathering in Paris for the highly anticipated COP 21 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris with the aim to devise a global action plan to address the issue.

As one of the largest and most polluting industries in the world, fashion must also do its part. I invite you to revisit the stimulating and ongoing discussion on #BoFVoices about how fashion can be more sustainable. It's a clear call to action for all of us.

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Imran Amed, Founder and Editor-in-Chief

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