Bæredygtighed i den danske mode- og tekstilbranche 2021

For quite a few years, sustainability has been a hot topic in the global fashion and textile industry. Awareness within the industry is continuously increasing, mirroring growing demands from legislators, NGOs, experts, and consumers that all are calling for a more a sustainable and responsible industry. Also in Denmark the industry is subject to increased scrutiny, and we are witnessing a proliferation of initiatives trying to push the industry towards a sustainable transi- tioning. However, despite the extensive focus, we have very limited data on the Danish industry’s actual work with sustainability. This includes data on how sustainability is prioritised within the companies, the key drivers and the key sustainability topics being prioritised. For that reason, Danish Fashion & Textile (DM&T), the Royal Danish Academy and Copenhagen Business School (CBS) have conducted a survey among DM&T’s members in August-October 2020 to explore the current status of sustainability within the Danish industry. This executive summary presents the key findings of the survey. The full report is available in Danish.
The study was conducted in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic as a deliberate choice. COVID-19 and its implica- tions have put a magnifying glass on the industry, highlighting the sustainability challenges associated with the typi- cal linear business model of the industry, i.e., challenges such as overproduction and lack of protection of vulnerable workers in the supply chain. Financially, COVID-19 has left a deep mark on the industry; revenue in the Danish industry is expected to fall by approximately 10%, and companies have had to make strategic reprioritisations during the year. Economic performance is, not surprisingly, the absolute key priority before and during COVID-19. Sustainability is ran- ked number five in the list of strategic priorities, but with a score that is roughly on a par with ’marketing/sales’ and ’design/innovation’. Nevertheless, two-thirds of the respondents indicate that they have a high or very high focus on sustainability, while 40% state that COVID-19 has made them focus even more on sustainability. Several respondents comment that COVID-19 has forced them to pause their work with sustainability, but at the same time pointed out that they have resumed their efforts after the first phase of the pandemic in the spring.
Zooming in on drivers, owners; including investors, customers, and employees are called out as the three stakeholder groups with the most demands, with owners ranking highest. Consumers rank number four, and consumer demands are thus not seen as a key driver for the sustainable transition. Looking at to what extent the different stakeholder groups are seen as rewarding the companies for their sustainability initiatives, there is an interesting gap in the sense that companies experience that neither customers nor consumers are willing to reward them by paying more for e.g., ‘more sustainable’ products or similar.
The survey reveals that Danish companies increasingly are faced with requirements on sustainability, and there is a strong tendency that these requirements focus on materials and alternatives to conventional fibres. 75% of the re- spondents state that they meet specific requirements on materials and 66% of the respondents state that they meet specific requirements on product certifications such as GOTS, OEKO-TEX or other ecolabels. Along with requirements on materials and ecolabels, there is also an increasing demand from customers on having sustainability strategies, but it ranks somewhat lower than the requirement on materials and ecolabels.
The focus on materials and ecolabels seem to drive a development where sustainability is first and foremost seen as related to materials and replacing conventional fibres with more sustainable alternatives.
The authors of the report see a risk in this tendency, as focusing solely on products may take away focus from the fact that sustainability needs to be worked with holistically and integrated through-out the full value chain and considered in relation to all business activities. This also implies introducing new initiatives rather than optimising existing parameters.
The survey indicates that the many sustainability initiatives within the industry seem be developed within the existing frameworks of the business model, customer portfolio, and product development rather than exploring new business models.
The survey also asked into details on ecolabels and certifications, commitment to international guidelines, and resour- ces and the results are summarised below:
• The survey documents that the Danish industry is working with a wide range of different certifications and ecolabels.
However, the most used are Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and OEKO-TEX for products and Business for Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) for documenting social compliance in the supply chain.
• On international guidelines, the survey indicates that companies in particular work with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, while fewer companies work with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
• Approximately half of the respondents (54%) have committed to global sustainability initiatives and programmes, such as the UN Global Compact (17%), Better Cotton Initiative (18%) and Business for Social Compliance Initiative (20%).
• On resources: approximately 50% of the respondents have a team or one employee responsible for working with sustainability. For the vast majority of the companies, this resource spends between 0 and 50 percent of their time on the sustainability work.
All in all, the survey clearly demonstrates that the Danish industry has taken decisive steps towards a sustainable transitioning. The key drivers are clearly requirements and expectations from owners/investors and customers, and particularly the focus on materials and products from customers seem to steer the transition in a certain direction. This means that there is potential for improvement in the industry, particularly when it comes to taking a more holistic and strategic approach to sustainability. This includes exploring moving towards more circular business models.