White paper: first fashion industry methane footprint estimated published

Collective Fashion Justice has worked with Cornell University and New York University scientists to produce the first estimated methane footprint for the fashion industry. This is long overdue.

You can download both the white paper and our report summarising its findings below.

But first, here are some key takeaways:

Fact 1: Methane is some 86 times more potent than carbon in the short-term, increasing temperatures in our atmosphere drastically for decades, but lasting far less time than carbon which continues to warm over hundreds of years. 

Fact 2: Over the next 20 years, if nothing changes the fashion industry could emit an estimated 712 million tons of carbon equivalent emissions, or 8.3 million tonnes of methane every year.

Fact 3: Despite making up under 4% of overall material use in the fashion industry, 75% of fashion’s methane footprint is tied to animal-derived leather, wool and cashmere production.

(Fig. 1. Estimated total methane emissions volume associated with the fashion industry per year (kton CH4/yr), based on aggregated life cycle inventories of raw material procurement, processing stage, and end-of-life landfilling. Synthetic fibers (polyester, nylon, polypropylene, and polyurethane) are grouped as “Synthetics”. “Textile Fabrication” considers the weaving and knitting of materials included in this study. Percentages indicate the relative contribution of each portion to total methane emissions from fashion supply chains.)

Fig. 2. Estimated distribution of annual production volume of major fashion materials used globally. Volumes are expressed in kilotonnes per year (kton material/yr), representing the approximate scale of fiber production entering the fashion supply chain based on the Textile Exchange Market Report. Synthetic fibers (polyester, nylon, polypropylene, and polyurethane) are grouped as “Synthetics”. Percentages indicate the proportion of each material relative to the total global production of fashion materials.

Fact 4: If the fashion industry focused on slashing methane emissions now, we would more quickly reduce global temperatures and protect ourselves against climate crisis tipping points that would cause havoc for not only the fashion industry and its supply chains, but all life on Earth.

Fig. 3. Estimated annual methane emissions associated with major fashion apparel materials, expressed in kilotonnes per year (kton CH₄/yr). Bars are segmented to indicate contributions from raw material production (e.g., farmed animal rearing or fiber cultivation) through processing (e.g., spinning, bleaching, dyeing), and end-of-life landfilling. “Textile Fabrication” considers the weaving and knitting of materials included in this study.

Fact 5: The fashion industry is on a fast track to failing the 1.5 degree pathway to mitigate climate change agreed in the Paris Agreement, with an overshoot of 50% more emissions than we can afford unless radical action is taken. The IPCC has stated the Agreement will not be met without methane mitigation, even if we meet all carbon reduction goals.

Fact 6: The Global Methane Pledge, endorsed by the UN and signed onto by over 150 countries states that methane must be reduced 30% by 2030, from a 2020 baseline. This is just five years away. The fashion industry must act now.

It is essential that the fashion industry mitigate methane emissions quickly, and this research shows that to do so, we must move beyond our reliance on ruminant animal-derived materials.

We must also switch to all renewable energy powering fashion’s supply chains.

Download our white paper and report below:

We ask that you share your email address with us so that we can send you a copy of both reports, along with additional reading resources from CFJ. This also helps us to track how many people are engaging with our research.