Félix Poza Peña, the chief sustainability officer at Zara's parent company Inditex believes tackling climate change within the fashion sector requires a strategy based on both fibre selection and collaboration across the wider supply chain.

He explains microfibre shedding is a very important issue right now, but adds apparel has a very complex supply chain, which makes it difficult to control the impact on the earth, land and water.

He admits the emissions related to material production is significant and states: "We want to reduce our emissions by more than 50% including our own operations and value chain; and at least a 90% reduction of our carbon footprint by 2040. To achieve this challenge we need a sustainability strategy based on two key pillars – a fibre plan and a supply chain transformation plan."

He asserts that by 2030 all fibre usage in Inditex's products will have "less impact". In fact, he suggests the company, which owns fashion brands Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho, will only use recycled polyester in future.

Inditex sustainability plan focuses on supply chain collaboration

Inditex's sustainability plan is built on working with the factories in its supply chain with Peña adding: "Our intention is to collaborate with them and offer technical support with their own transformation plans."

This is a big undertaking given Inditex uses more than 1,700 suppliers in 45 markets that create products at more than 8,000 factories with more than 3m jobs.

The EU has adopted the ecodesign regulation which will act as an incentive to decarbonise the wider apparel sector from the design phase, with Peña sharing: "In my opinion the most important thing is the objective to improve the performance and sustainability of the product."

He continues: "We think it’s not enough to achieve real transformation alone so our intention is to develop a [decarbonisation] programme that is done country by country and region by region with guidance.

"The ownership should be assumed by local organisations and collaborations with the industry providing help with technical assistance and knowledge as well as financial support to develop these transformation plans."

Epic Group to launch sustainable manufacturing blueprint

For global apparel manufacturer Epic Group the time is nigh for tackling sustainability given the main countries where apparel suppliers are situated are already on the coalface of climate change.

Epic Group assistant vice president of engineering Akila Fernando explains heat waves are becoming the new normal for those working in apparel sourcing hotspots like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan so "we have to adapt to be sustainable."

He agrees with Peña that a significant proportion of energy is coming from material production, but he says: "Decarbonisation is a buzzword in our industry with 40% of brands stating their emissions have increased compared to the baseline."

He urges brands such as Inditex to help with the shared risk given most manufacturing takes place in countries undergoing tricky geopolitical situations and tackling sustainability is expensive.

He asserts collaboration will be particularly important for achieving decarbonisation because it's not an area of competition, rather it is an area where the entire sector needs to work together to lower its carbon footprint.

He points out: "We’ll have to share knowledge with other manufacturers and we'll need brands to provide long-term partnerships. Suppliers will be investing in a new sustainable future so if we don’t know our financial business future it will make it harder for any of us to invest in sustainability."

Fernando believes there is a big technology gap so suppliers need to ensure they use the right technology in operations. In agreement with Peña's Inditex decarbonisation initiative with the IAF, he adds: "We need support from fashion brands, the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)."

He admits not all organisations can afford the right technical expertise but if organisations can, it would be a great help for manufacturers in general.

Fernando is also positive about Inditex's future focus on recycled materials noting that Epic Group is on a quest to use recycled materials and actively engage in material circularity.

His company's environmental strategy aims to reduce water usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and he points out Epic Group will switch to sustainable biomass in Bangladesh and India for thermal loads.

Plus, he reveals the global manufacturer is developing what he describes as the "blueprint for sustainable manufacturing" in India, which will be ready by June 2025.

IFC urges apparel sector to ask for help

Lack of investment remains a bottleneck for tackling sustainability within the fashion industry. Femi Akinrebiyo, a global manager of manufacturing investment and trade supplier finance at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank says making a significant change "costs money so we need to work with the development finance community".

Akinrebiyo urges the apparel sector to share data and engage with public stakeholders on new business models to create a value share that will improve the output of the sector.

He cites the phrase charity begins at home and says both Peña and Fernando demonstrate apparel sector collaboration is already happening and the IFC is helping both Inditex and Epic Group with their sustainability initiatives.

"We’re helping Epic Group on its new project and we're working with Inditex but we’re also looking for more opportunities to find solutions.

He is also working with the likes of US fashion brand Levi and US sports brand NIKE so they can get discounted rates with financing when they do the right things for the environment, which Akinrebiyo says "encourages the right behaviour".

The IFC sees itself as a long-term collaborative partner of the apparel industry and prides itself on putting practical solutions on the ground: "We have the ability to put technical capacity in the field, especially for small SMES who are making things in the field and we have the ability to support the industry," he shares.

Crucially, the IFC can share costs of the analysis and scope which is necessary before a fashion supplier can reduce carbon emissions: "Even before the investment stage we can help share the cost to move the industry forward."

Many SMEs can’t go to to the local bank to borrow money so Akinrebiyo and the wider IFC have designed a financial structure that leverages the credit strength of the global brand they sell to.

In other words, he shares: "An SME can borrow money at the cost of borrowing money from Nike.

This means there is no excuse for any part of the supply chain to ignore sustainability or the benefits of working together to tackle it on a global scale.