By Hélène G10

Interview with Arthus, chair of the environmental council. 

Topic 1: The impact of unsustainable production and fast fashion and its impact on climate change.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the business model of fast fashion has grown significantly. Fast fashion is the mass-production of clothes for a low cost, and negatively impacts the environment. For instance, 2 ‘700 litres of water are used to dye one t-shirt, as well as raw materials including cotton and synthetic fibres, which often are sourced using harmful agricultural practices. 10% of the world’s global carbon emissions are caused by the fashion industry due to their use of fossil fuels and subsequent greenhouse gas emissions. 

The USA and China are two of the countries most impacted by the use of water in fast fashion. Some less economically developed (LEDC) countries are also greatly affected by water usage, as they are responsible for cheap exports and the manufacturing of fast fashion. Some of these LEDCs include Bangladesh and Indonesia. 

Chair of the Environmental council, Arthus LeBlanc, explained that the two delegations expected to be the most engaged are China and the USA, however in practice, the most engaged delegations were Bangladesh and Tanzania. Bangladesh was very engaged because the country is one of the main producers of fast fashion from companies like H&M and Zara, which significantly deplete the country’s water resources. Similarly, Tanzania was very engaged because it is an LEDC and therefore suffers from this issue.

Coming from Bangladesh and Tanzania, the resolution presented was “reducing the amount of water used so finding alternatives in order to still be able to produce the amount of water currently demanded for fast fashion.” The council came up with a very interesting solution to use “grey” water, meaning repurposed water from rain, handwashing , showering, and other daily use because it is relatively clean and can therefore still be used to manufacture clothing for fast fashion. 

The most eco-friendly and sustainable resolution was main-submitted by Bangladesh. They are most affected by fast fashion economically and environmentally, and through fixing the environmental issue, Bangladesh would also resolve the economic issue. “I don’t think it can be sustainable everywhere because every country needs to work on their own issues,” Artus explained. “For example, the big five need to think more globally whereas the LEDCs need to think more economically.”