Researchers from Berlin’s Hot or Cool Institute found that five items of clothing need to be bought each year to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate change target of 1.5ºC global warming.
If the five items per year are put into context, this means that customers in, for example, Great Britain alone will in some cases have to reduce their consumption by up to 80%.
Luka Koseme, head of the research program at the Hot or Cool Institute, told Vogue that it is now normal to consume fashion in a way that is really excessive.
It’s no surprise that customers in wealthier countries spend more. The research showed that Australia, Japan, the US and the UK have the highest carbon footprint per capita when it comes to fashion spending.
On the other hand, outside the group of G20 member countries, India, Brazil, China, Turkey and Indonesia have the lowest carbon footprint per capita. The researchers concluded that a “sufficient” wardrobe consists of 74 items of clothing and a total of 20 clothing combinations.
Meanwhile, we recall that new research by the EU Intellectual Property Agency (EUIPO) has shown that European manufacturers of clothing, cosmetics and toys have suffered annual sales losses of around 16 billion euros as a result of counterfeit products. About 200,000 jobs have also been lost as a result of this fraud.
“Counterfeit goods cause real costs to consumers, to brands and to our economies. This latest study shows the real costs in terms of lost sales and jobs in the EU,” said EUIPO Executive Director João Negrão.