BRICS’ COP30 climate goals could scale up global sustainable fashion

Image credit: Mathias Reding

The fashion industry is responsible for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to the United Nations. At its current trajectory, the industry’s emissions could rise to 26% or a quarter of the world's carbon budget by 2050. Deemed one of the most polluting industries in the world, it uses 342 million barrels of oil (fossil fuels) to make synthetic textiles. It produces greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to around 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 each year – more than shipping and aviation combined. Despite fashion’s contribution to climate issues, it’s not always included in top level climate discussions.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s 30th annual Conference of Parties aka COP30, is the world’s largest and most important annual climate conference with nearly 200 nations is running from November 10 to 21, 2025. The host country, Brazil, insisted that this year’s summit must lead to ‘implementation’, calling it “the COP of implementation”. In addition to setting this year’s COP30 agenda, Brazil also holds the current presidency of BRICS countries- the economic and political trade cooperation bloc made up of ten emerging economies. The COP30 agenda is structured around several themes, three of which relate more closely with fashion emissions:

Transitioning energy and industry is about transitioning away from fossil fuels towards clean energy sources. The connection with the fashion industry relates to the reliance on fossil fuels for the production of synthetic textiles such as polyester being a significant driver of climate change.

Stewarding forests, oceans, and biodiversity focuses on protecting ecosystems, ending deforestation and acknowledging the role of these areas in climate regulation. The fashion industry is a culprit here because it relies on these ecosystems for raw materials and water, yet its practices such as deforestation, pollution, and resource-intensive production severely damage them. This creates a cycle of degradation, biodiversity loss and destruction of ecosystems, which undermines the very natural resources it depends on and exacerbates climate change.

Unleashing enablers and accelerators, including finance, technology and capacity building covers guidelines of climate action, such as mobilising climate finance, developing and deploying technology and building capacity. This can provide a framework for the fashion industry to minimise its greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with goals such as those of set by the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and the Paris Agreement.

Image credit: Marcus Loke

Australia’s fashion overconsumption and COP30 commitment

In regards to fashion and emissions, Australia is one of the biggest consumers of fashion and most wasteful in the world per capita. Australia is also in attendance at COP30 and has committed to Brazil’s leadership in the COP30 agenda which addresses some fashion-related climate issues:    

• deliver the clean energy transition

• further reduce global emissions

• strengthen adaptation efforts

• mobilise resources for climate finance

• unlock investment in clean energy solutions for Australia and our region. 

BRICS green manufacturing agenda can provide a framework for the sustainable development of Australia and the global textiles & fashion sector.

BRICS’ sustainable governance declaration

In July 2025, BRICS’ ten-member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Egypt and Iran) held a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The bloc’s meeting reaffirmed their commitment to the objectives of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement in tackling climate change and mitigating, adapting and providing the means of implementation to developing countries. In Rio de Janeiro, the bloc produced a declaration, ‘Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance’ also known as BRICS Leaders Declaration detailing a set of climate policies specifically targeted at the negotiations at COP30 in the city of Belem, in Brazil in November 2025. These policies of climate finance, carbon accounting, energy transition and a multilateral sustainability platform are additionally suitable for addressing fashion’s emissions and pollution problems.

In a statement addressing Brazil’s COP30-BRICS climate convergence, the Interim Executive Director, World Resources Institute, Brazil Mirela Sandrini said “Brazil deserves credit for bringing the BRICS together behind a more assertive vision for climate action. Brazil is deftly weaving climate diplomacy into the fabric of broader global agendas – from its G20 Presidency to BRICS and soon the COP30 summit.  This integrated approach helps reduce fragmentation across international fora and positions climate policy as a cornerstone of global economic and financial reform – driving the inclusive, green growth the world urgently needs.”   

BRICS to COP30 climate policies (à la fashion)

Climate finance

Strengthening climate finance, increased climate lending and deeper green bond markets are one of the BRICS’ climate policy asks. The BRICS declaration emphasised “ensuring accessible, timely and affordable climate finance for developing countries is critical for enabling just transitions pathways that combine climate action with sustainable development.” This means advancing the existing responsibility of mobilising and providing resources from developed countries towards developing countries under the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement.

The declaration includes the objective to strengthen pathways and mechanisms that involve and incentivise private sector climate finance & investment efforts and complement public finance flows to this mission.

It’s assumed that the declaration’s climate policy is reinforcing the agreement created at COP29 in 2024 for a new climate finance goal, New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). This was designed to provide USD $300 billion annually by 2035 to developing countries with a bigger target for all actors both in public and private sectors to mobilise a minimum of USD $1.3 trillion by 2035; far closer to the amount developing countries need for the mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.    

Climate finance stems from wealthier nations historically contributing far more to climate change. Critics such as Oxfam have raised concerns that the mix of private investment and loans under climate finance could lead to more debt for vulnerable developing nations rather providing fair and equitable financial climate support.

The July BRICS declaration addresses debt around international financial cooperation, saying “High interest rates and tighter financing conditions worsen debt vulnerabilities in many countries. We believe it is necessary to address the international debt properly and in a holistic manner to support economic recovery and sustainable development….”

If implemented correctly, there are a plethora of ways that climate finance can be useful in salvaging the environment from fashion’s harmful operations. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), every year, as many as 4 million tonnes of used textiles are shipped across the planet from North to South. Around 40% of imported clothing bundles are unsellable, unusable and unwearable according to Greenpeace. They are immediately destined for landfill, incineration or end up polluting beaches and waterways. Climate finance could mitigate a significant amount of the environmental impact of this waste stream.

Energy Transitions – Reaching adequate, predictable and accessible low-cost and concessional finance to bridge the funding gap for energy transitions is one of the bloc’s summit priorities. As manufacturing is a major and fundamental aspect of fashion production, the industry’s sustainability can benefit significantly from finance for energy transitions.

Carbon accounting

The declaration pushes for a mutually recognised system, methodologies and standard for assessing greenhouse gas emissions for a more balanced international approach by manifesting the BRICS Principles for Fair, Inclusive, and Transparent Carbon Accounting. It focuses on creating carbon accounting standards for product and facility footprints that consider diverse circumstances of different nations. The standard most used in the fashion industry for carbon accounting is potentially the ISO 14067 which provides a framework for only calculating a product's carbon footprint through a "cradle-to-grave" lifecycle assessment (LCA) but does not include the facility’s footprint, nor associated circumstances.  

Multilateral climate, sustainability & trade platform

The BRICS Laboratory for Trade, Climate Change and Sustainable Development is a platform for collaborating on mutually supportive approaches to trade and environmental policy. It enables BRICS members to not only benefit from trade but also collectively respond to unilateral measures and contribute to global efforts in addressing environmental challenges.

This can serve as a model for a new unified international fashion platform or for existing organisations, such as the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, to either step up or create a coordinated agenda of environmental policy, legislation, sustainable trade and global best practice principles. Different countries have been passing various forms of legislation, creating policies and programs for trade to combat the harm done by the fashion industry. It could be highly effective to have a global sustainable fashion platform.

As COP30 has been designated the ‘COP of implementation’ along with the BRICS declaration climate policies for the climate summit, fashion might be able to adopt these measures to advance positive climate and environmental outcomes.

Article by Nina Gbor

The EU’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law that may force the fashion industry to become more sustainable

Image credit: Fernand De Canne

The European Union has struck textile companies with intensive laws dedicated to reducing the impact of fast fashion on the planet. The union has been at the forefront of rooting out the exploitative business practices of fast fashion giants such as Shein, H&M, and Inditex Group (which includes companies like Berksha, Zara, and Massimo Dutti). The EU is implementing laws that will reduce textile waste and promote recycling of fashion items. 

According to The Fashion Law, the EU has introduced an “Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)” mandate on 9 September 2025 for textile producers, which ensures that fast fashion companies shoulder the responsibility of “collecting, sorting, and recycling the clothing and household textiles” instead of individual consumers. The EPR is an addition to the existing Waste Framework Directive which calls for the development of sustainable waste management practices. Fortunately, these rules are also applicable to traditional European labels, promoting sustainability in the textile industry regardless of their business model. The EU is adamant about each member state adopting the necessary technology and infrastructure and setting protracted policy goals for the future. 

In the Waste Framework Directive, the EU highlights the complex composition of municipal waste which makes efficient sorting and recycling difficult for existing waste management infrastructures. The active participation of citizens is also a major factor in waste management to ensure each category of waste is discarded and recycled correctly. The Waste Framework Directive also stated that in order to combat the level of municipal waste in the world, a sophisticated system and public awareness is necessary. However, EPR rightfully places the responsibility of recycling on one of the world’s largest polluters themselves, forcing these companies to comply with sustainable business practices moving forward. 

If fast fashion companies continue to operate within the non-stop, trend-focused business model, the fashion industry is projected to generate 26% of the world’s carbon emissions by 2050. The only beneficiaries of this horrible statistic are the companies that earn billions of dollars from exploiting human labor and destroying the planet. This huge achievement toward legislative change in fashion serves as a framework for the rest of the world to reject unnecessary textile waste. However, the issue has not been abolished completely. Unless the rest of the world creates similar programs for its fashion markets, fast fashion giants will continue to switch their marketing practices and entice you to buy that new shirt for your “first” events forever. 

Australia is a leading consumer of fast fashion, ahead of many EU nations and the US. In a 2024 research paper by Nina Gbor and Olivia Chollet from the Australia Institute emphasized that the sheer quantity of Australian textile waste is 200,000 tonnes, equivalent to a weight of four Sydney Harbor Bridges. The Australian government needs to establish concrete laws similar to the EU to curb its textile waste crisis. Nina Gbor, founder of Eco Styles, has launched a petition to revive the Australian textile industry with a focus on circular economy practices. Here is a brief summary of some of the policies this petition is advocating for: 

•  Reviving the Australian textile industry, which can help create a $38 billion industry for onshore production jobs for women 

• Significant industry reform under the Labor Government’s Progressive productivity agenda and its commitment to the net-zero agenda by 2050 as well as strengthen the economic resilience of the country

• Taxing ultra fast-fashion brands and investing the returns into the Australian fashion industry 

• Phasing out virgin plastics and synthetic materials as well as banning toxic chemicals in line with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals foundation

• Public awareness about the health and environmental complications of buying fast fashion items

• Pushing for ethical business and fair trade practices under the Modern Slavery Act of 2018 to ensure there are no human rights violations within the industry. 

Sign the petition to create impactful change in legislation and consumer behavior in Australia. Self-expression through fashion should not have such a heavy cost. When you buy your next piece of clothing, think about the social and environmental impact of the item you are purchasing. Prioritize brands practice sustainability, quality, and fair trade. Opt for methods such as thrifting, mending, repairing, and swapping to elongate the lifecycle of clothing items and prevent their early demise into landfills already brimming to their maximum capacity. 

Article by Samya Dawadi for Eco Styles. Samya’s focus is on environmental and sustainability consulting in business and art. 

Resolving the waste crisis

Image credit: Chantel Bann

I was out on a walk the other day and spotted a ‘FREE’ sign in front of someone’s house above a couple of art frames, a lamp, clothes rack, mirror, a chair and some books. It’s pretty common to see household items on the sidewalk, free for passers-by to take. I’ve come across everything from sofas to tvs, suitcases, washing machines, clothes, printers, desks, electronics and even fresh fruit.

I found out about a community Facebook group called Street Bounty Inner West where locals in a suburb can post reusable items they see in the street for anyone to pick up. The group aims to “promote the recycling and reuse of materials, keeping kerbs cleaner, landfill emptier and wallets fuller.” Movements like this divert so much stuff from going to landfills. However, sometimes these items can get damaged on the sidewalk by exposure to weather conditions: rain, extreme sun and wind. And/or eventually still end up in landfill if nobody takes it.

Images credit top row L to R: Kimberly Scott, Fi Paskulich, Anna Bailey, Obaydah Vetter. Second row L to R: Nicky Lewis, Sarah Bea, Carolyn Veg Ienna and Vanessa Jimenez.

The world’s waste

According to The World Counts, the world dumps 2.12 billion tonnes of waste each year. If it were all put on trucks, it would stretch around the earth 24 times! Part of the reason why this figure is so high is that 99% of the stuff we purchase is trashed within 6 months. According to the World Bank, global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050. A huge majority of the world’s waste is generated by countries in the global North like Australia, the US, the UK, and Canada.

According to Australia’s National Waste Report 2020, Australians generated around  74.1 million tonnes of waste in 2018-19 (this includes household waste, organics, masonry materials and ash). Community efforts like Street Bounty that salvage household waste from landfills by donating to random strangers are a noble act. Many movements like this are doing fantastic work in tackling the waste problem but they can only capture a tiny fraction of the overall waste that exists.

Planned obsolescence

It’s fair to say that planned obsolescence is probably the biggest factor behind the tremendously high amount of waste. It’s a modern capitalist trend that’s been a massive catalyst for manifesting more waste in the last few decades than humanity has ever witnessed. Planned obsolescence is a strategy during manufacture that ensures products are deliberately designed with an artificially limited useful life or designed to eventually slow down or become obsolete. This guarantees that consumers will regularly want to replace these products in the future. The purpose of this strategy is for corporations to gain stable and increased profits. The outcome is a massive increase in waste to landfills and huge greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and environmental degradation.  

Image credit: How-To Geek

Common waste streams

E-waste

Electronic waste (e-waste) is the quickest growing domestic waste stream. On a global scale, we generate over 50 million tonnes of e-waste each year. Only 20% of this is formally recycled. That comes to about 7.3 kilograms per person and the equivalent in weight to 350 cruise ships. The e-waste produced annually is worth over $62.5 billion. A lot of e-waste is toxic and gets exported to poorer countries in the global South where they end up polluting the environment in these countries and also in their landfills. 

The average Australian household produces about 73 kg of e-waste a year. With a projection of a global total e-waste increase to 74.7 million tonnes (almost twice the amount of new e-waste in just 16 years). Planned obsolescence is a big feature in the electronics industry.  

In 2018, Italy fined Samsung and Apple for purposely slowing down older models of their phones. Their plan was for people to get annoyed with the slowness of their phones to the point where they were forced to buy the newest and much more expensive models.

Image credit: Carolyn Veg Ienna

Furniture waste

With the popularity of flatpack furniture over the last few decades, there’s been a boom in furniture waste. When people are relocating, it can be more convenient to throw away old or damaged furniture instead of repairing or paying to move them to the new location.

Each year, Americans throw out more than 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Only a small percentage is recycled. And in Australia, households dispose of around 24 kg of wooden furniture each year.

Image credit: Blake Milne

Images credit: Bee Yolanda, Clare Marshall, Jobi-Zane Pixus and Tom.

Waste from fashion & textiles

We’re producing about 150 billion garments a year with only 7.8 billion humans. It’s not surprising that 84% of all new clothing produced ends up in landfills each year. Fast fashion is to blame for these alarming figures.

Fast fashion brands through clever marketing amongst other things manipulate consumers into buying new clothes every few days or every week. These clothes usually get thrown out very quickly as trash and a huge portion is exported to countries in the global South where they eventually pollute those environments. Overconsumption is a modern cultural trend that’s detrimental to people and the planet. Fashion trends are one of the things that fuel fashion waste.

Image credit: CALPIRG

Solving the waste crisis

Australia has a national target of recovering 80% of waste by 2030. To make ambitious goals like this in Australia and other countries a reality, we’ll have to do a lot more than sidewalk donations. It’s so necessary to break the planet-destroying linear cycle of stuff that goes from retail to buyer then landfill in less than a year. In spite of planned obsolescence and our behaviours around consumption, many items are still useful and can be repurposed. A couple of ideas:

1. Make profits for yourself and charities

Reselling has always been a phenomenal way to divert waste from landfills and make a profit. However, CharityBay is next level! On this platform, you can do both of these things and help charities at the same time. People can sell items and donate some or all profits to a chosen charity. Imagine if all the stuff abandoned on the street and the useable stuff sent to landfill were resold for charity.  

2. Rescue, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose

There are many community groups like the Street Bounty Inner West group that support waste reduction. You might find similar groups through a search on social media platforms. If you can’t find one for your local community then create one.

With a little love, imagination and a makeover, many items have the potential for a magical transformation into something ‘new’, useful and maybe even beautiful. Imagine what our societies would be like if repairing and upcycling were as much a cultural habit as overconsumption?

Image credit: Imran Zainal © Imran’s Ark via iProperty

3. Legislation and policy change

Local community action is very powerful but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. We have to have laws in effect that ban planned obsolescence. And

• hold corporations accountable for ensuring durability and lifelong repair guarantee in the products they make

•  limit the number of goods manufactured to a reasonable number in harmony with planetary resources and product demand / usage

•  hold corporations accountable if they do not comply with these laws.

 ♥ Nina Gbor

Insta: @eco.styles

Secondhand September

Secondhand monochrome outfit.

I chose these monochrome secondhand looks to herald the start of Spring here in the merry land of Oz (Australia) and to also mark the beginning of this year’s annual Second Hand September campaign by Oxfam, UK. I’ve been shopping secondhand since I was a kid, long before sustainable fashion was a movement and before it was seen as cool to shop secondhand. I started my career in sustainable fashion career years ago by styling glamourous secondhand pieces on Instagram to inspire people to take out the stigma of wearing used clothes. It thrills me that the mainstreams world has finally embraced it and campaigns like this one help further normalise wearing used clothes.  

Monochrome outfit restyled to look casual using a t-shirt, white sneakers and crossbody bag.

The purpose is to give clothes a longer life by promoting the use of secondhand shopping and donating. The goal is to promote clothing waste reduction to landfill, reduce fashion’s impact on the climate crisis.  87% of all unwanted textiles are sent to landfill or incinerated while 12% is recycled mechanically by being broken down into fibre, rags or material for insulation. Only about 1% is chemically recycled back to reusable raw materials. The fashion industry is partially responsible for the climate crisis. 95% of textile waste can be reused or recycled. Buying and donating secondhand clothes gives them a longer life by delaying or stopping them from ending up in landfill. This slows down the consumption of fast fashion which contributes to protecting the planet, its people and reducing fashion’s contribution to climate change. 

And by shopping secondhand, we’re reinvesting money into vital work of charity shops like reducing poverty and other worthy causes like inequality and illnesses. 

How Secondhand September works? Throughout September, buy only secondhand clothes online (if you need to shop) or in your local op shop. And also donate clean, quality items to op shops/thrift stores. And then share your one-of-a-kind finds in your socials with the hashtag #SecondHandSeptember.

Smart casual look using square pattern monochrome jacket.

STYLING

About 99% of my large wardrobe is secondhand. I chose these monochrome, Audrey Hepburn-60s inspired ensembles with a kind of 'je ne sais quoi' vibe to them. I’ve used a monochrome rah-rah skirt, vintage hat and tan belt to create a glamourous and sophisticated, the reused the 3 pieces to create a casual look with sneakers, a t-shirt and a few more pieces. 

Restyling interchangeable pieces in your closet to create different outfits makes your wardrobe far more versatile which can minimise your temptation to buy more clothes and lead to less fashion waste going to landfill.

 ♥ Nina Gbor

Instagram: @eco.styles

Bright Yellow Winter

My wardrobe is full of vibrant colours to keep my style fun and playful. Recently the days have gotten shorter and the weather colder for many of us in the southern hemisphere. To help me mentally cope with the colder, darker days, I up the ante with BRIGHT, BOLD COLOURS!

Exhibit A: this super bright yellow early 1980s hand-me-down I got from my friend’s mother, Maryanne. Maryanne is my good friend Kylie’s mother and she has had this gorgeous yellow number since the early ‘80s before she had Kylie and her sisters! Fortunately for me, none of them wanted the dress so I got it. I rocked it with a pair of light brown studded falcon ankle boots I found in a preloved boutique. 

Have you ever noticed that most Winter attire in retail are usually dark and neutral colours, while summer clothes are often bright, cheerful and colourful? I think it should totally be the other way around. We should have bright clothes in winter to raise the energy and ambience of the cold, dark days with cheery, vibrant colours. And then in summer, when we already have longer, brighter days, more sunshine and generally lighter moods as a result, we can opt for darker colours and/or just maintain the colour vibrancy. 

 I do my best to extend my summer wardrobe through to winter by wearing thermals underneath clothes and jumpers when needed. This means I get more use from my clothes, buy less clothing for winter and therefore waste less clothing. And quite significantly, I get those bright, energetic, colour boosts in winter. It also has a positive effect on anyone who sees me on a winter day because they get hit with an uncommon dose of ebullience. 

So, this dress is a metaphoric toast to those of us with winter days ahead of us for the next few months. Stay warm and keep it colourful! 

Outfit sourced from:

1980s yellow dress: Hand-me-down from Maryanne’s wardrobe.

Light brown studded falcon boots: U-Turn Preloved, Vintage, Designer Fashion Boutique

Photos by Brunela Fenalte Photography. 

♥ Nina Gbor