

Executive Summary
About this report
In October 2022, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) gave the stark warning that there is currently “no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place” and that existing climate promises are still not enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. The UN agency called for rapid and urgent climate action by government and industry to reform our economies and societies to achieve dramatic emissions cuts. [1] The fashion industry, which causes 2- 8% of global emissions, is yet to take responsibility for its massive climate impact and the harms that it is causing.[2]
An in-depth analysis undertaken by Stand.earth in 2021 found that 47 major fashion companies had failed to show leadership in eliminating fossil fuels from their supply chains. The Fossil-Free Fashion Scorecard published in August 2021 (2021 Scorecard) concluded that the fashion industry must quickly ramp up its efforts to phase out fossil fuels in order to cut its emissions by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement.[3]
Impact Areas
The current Fossil-Free Fashion Scorecard (2023 Scorecard) builds on the 2021 Scorecard by assessing the progress made by 43 global apparel and footwear companies to reduce their carbon footprints in line with a 1.5°C emissions pathway. It provides an updated benchmark for major fast fashion, athletic, outdoor, retailer, luxury, and footwear companies on key aspects of supply chain decarbonisation based on their performance in five categories:
Key Findings
The 2023 Scorecard found an industry with more commitments to act, but still only a few pockets of progress toward supply chain decarbonisation. Overall, progress over the past 18 months has been insufficient and extremely disappointing.


Sources
- Climate Change: No ‘Credible Pathway’ to 1.5C Limit,” October 27, 2022, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129912.
- “Measuring Fashion: Insights from the Environmental Impact of the Global Apparel and Footwear Industries” (Quantis and ClimateWorks Foundation, 2018), https://quantis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/measuringfashion_globalimpactstudy_full-report_quantis_cwf_2018a.pdf; Kirsi Niinimäki et al., “The Environmental Price of Fast Fashion,” Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 1, no. 4 (April 2020): 189–200, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0039-9; “Roadmap to Net Zero: Delivering Science-Based Targets in the Apparel Sector” (World Resources Institute and Apparel Impact Institute, November 5, 2021), https://apparelimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/21_WorkingPaper_RoadmapNetZero_.pdf.
- Fossil-Free Fashion Scorecard” (Stand.earth, 2021), https://fashion2021.stand.earth/executive-summary.