Apparel industry emissions are going in the wrong direction
Non-profit organisation the Apparel Impact Institute (AII) has published a new report with its estimates for carbon emissions from the global apparel industry.
Although the report is from September 2026, the figures relate to 2024. AII puts the industry’s emissions for that year at just over 1 gigatonne, an increase of 6.3% compared to the year before.
According to AII, this increase was mainly driven by an increase in the amount of fibre used to produce apparel, particularly polyester.
It quoted figures from another non-profit organisation, Textile Exchange, that put global fibre production for 2024 at 132 million tonnes, up by 5.6% year on year, with polyester accounting for 59% of the total.
AII said tier-two activity, which is textile processing, has the largest share of the apparel sector’s emissions, with 51% of the total. Raw material production is next, with a 26% share.
The San Francisco-based organisation said its aim is to “connect the evidence to practical, measurable action”.
It has identified as priorities a move from commitment to “facility-level implementation” of measures to lower emissions. It also wants brands to finance and enable supplier action.
It wants to measure, replicate and scale measures that work and, finally, to deliver “absolute emissions reductions while addressing production growth”.
