Supplier Inclusion Is Key to Climate Action
Dr. Hakan Karaosman & Prof. Donna Marshall
A manufacturing plant by Hakan Karaosman
Legislation and regulation are changing. The fashion industry is required to ensure fashion production and supply chain operations respect environmental and social sustainability. The European Commission has published the official EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles to achieve the climate goals for the EU Green Deal, accordingly, textile products within the EU will be expected to be long-lasting and recyclable; textile production will adhere to social and environmental responsibility principles; high-quality and affordable textiles will be made available; and a circular and innovative textile ecosystem will be established and orchestrated.
Just Transition Is Essential to Sustainability Change
There is ample scientific evidence showing how other industries such as automotive, energy and agriculture reduce their environmental impact in fair ways. Fashion can learn from just transition in other industrial settings; however, fashion first needs to acknowledge that the current business model is characterized by overproduction. One of the factors impeding environmentally and socially just fashion supply chains is the excess number of items produced by the fashion brands, degrading social, environmental, creative and emotional resources. In the pursuit of financial growth, fashion brands are growing dependent on complex and fragmented supply chains but there is a physical as well as cultural distance between the brands and the people working across multiple tiers in fashion supply chains.
Fashion, as a system, is paralysed by imbalanced power relations. Brands that are considered the power holder would do well to understand that their future and business continuity depends on their suppliers. The suppliers, especially artisanal businesses, have tacit knowledge and know-how that could inspire and guide climate action. The action research I have been doing together with my colleague Prof. Donna Marshall into fashion supply chain management explains that the suppliers, including garment makers, fabric and yarn producers in addition to additional service providers such as printing, dyeing and embroidery, we have seen the deep understanding of effective use of resources of these stakeholders, understanding honed over generations and through practice that could guide fashion brands toward better management of carbon, waste, water and energy, if they would be willing to listen.
Climate action and social justice need to happen in tandem. Power relations have been transactional in the fashion industry, by this we mean, where brands demand, suppliers comply. But this needs to change. The fashion system needs to ensure stronger supply chain relationships. Using coercive tactics, such as pressuring suppliers for discounts or order cancellations, leads to disruptive consequences for the whole supply chain. Not only does exploitation by brands act to negatively reinforce to suppliers the limited power they have, but this poor behaviour also leads to resentment, driving suppliers to other industries, or to work with brands who see that the true value of collaboration in the supply chain is driving prosperity for all.
Over the years, and as a consequence of other business priorities, many fashion brands have changed their supply chain model from one based on trust and innovation to one based on mistrust and punishment. One effect is that fashion brands are at risk of missing innovative ideas that lie with suppliers and their workers. Workers are a vital resource within a business and this resource is being squandered. Short-sighted supply chain strategies have historically lead to failure. Learning from this, contemporary brands would do well to realise the expertise and power inherent in lower tiers of their supply chains and work with those suppliers to make sure everyone can thrive. Top-down decision making, and exclusive governance tools will not change the system. Fashion cannot embrace sustainability if it fails to include those working across fashion supply chains in the decision-making.
Addressing climate change is fundamental but inclusive decision making is antecedent to decisive climate action. Justice has three fundamental dimensions that fashion needs to adhere to. Fashion needs to ensure interactional justice through respectful and empathetic relationships as well as transparent communication between the brands and the suppliers. Procedural justice must be assured where inclusive, participatory decision making takes place with the representation of vulnerable communities. And distributive justice needs to happen whereby risks and benefits are shared fairly, and power is distributed between the supply chain actors.
The fashion industry needs radical change. For those of us working within the supply chain, we need to transform the way decisions are made, tools are designed, and performance is measured. It is time to bring all of those working across multiple tiers of supply chains together to learn from their knowledge and lived experiences. It is only through this radical collaboration that the fashion industry will finally see what, how, and by whom radical and inclusive climate action can be operationalised.
About the Research
Dr. Hakan Karaosman is Assistant Professor at Cardiff University. Prof. Donna Marshall is Professor of Supply Chain Management at University College Dublin. Hakan and Donna lead the research centre FReSCH (Fashion’s Responsible Supply Chain Hub). Recognised by the European Commission and the United Nations, FReSCH has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 895711. FReSCH takes a supply chain and anthropological approach by exploring multiple fashion supply chains to understand tensions and paradoxical issues between operational goals, environmental transition and social justice and develops models to ensure just transition in complex supply chain settings. FReSCH will disseminate knowledge reports and orchestrate several engagement workshops throughout 2023, please get in touch for more details.