The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) launched its Fashion Forever Green Pact; a call to immediate action for the fashion industry, brands, retailers and manufacturers alike, to adopt responsible sourcing in support of the world’s forests. Source: Timberbiz
With the rising need for renewable and sustainable fibres in recent years, man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) have become the fastest growing fibre in the market. However, most of this material still comes from uncertified forests around the world leaving their ecosystems vulnerable to deforestation, and threatening biodiversity and the livelihoods of those that depend on them.
The Fashion Forever Green Pact is based on a set of three actions that aim to build sustainability into the fashion industry’s growing reliance on fibres and other forest-based materials.
At its core, the initiative represents an industry-wide collaboration between FSC and brand owners to drive a shift in sourcing practices and ultimately safeguard forests globally.
By joining, companies proactively commit to responsible procurement policies, sustainable sourcing of 100% of FSC-certified MMSFs within a year of signing and labelling at least one collection with the FSC label by 2025.
Early signatories include major international names in the fashion world including Birla, H&M, JBS Textile Group, Masai, BitteKai Rand, Bravo World, Ghezzi SPA and Brunello SPA and Daenong Corporation.
“To meet the huge challenges forests are facing globally with widespread forest depletion and deforestation, we need to make sure forests are responsibly managed while working to reduce our dependence on raw materials.
“So, we are more than happy to join the Fashion Forever Green Pact to both show our support for the world’s forests and to help push the entire MMCF industry in the right direction.
“This initiative is aligned with our goal that all virgin wood-based fibres used for MMCFs at the H&M Group will originate from FSC certified forests by the end of 2025,” said Madelene Ericsson, Sustainability Business Expert at H&M Group.
