Fashion Council Germany publishes the German Fashion Footprint study on the global impact of the German fashion industry: 38 million tons of CO₂e were released worldwide for the production of clothing and shoes - only 2 million tons of CO₂e within Germany.

Following the study "Status of German Fashion" published in January 2021, the Fashion Council Germany is publishing its second study "German Fashion Footprint" on the global impact of the German fashion industry. Like the study published last year, the study was carried out by the Oxford Economics Institute and financed by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Berlin-based strategy consultancy for innovation and sustainability studio MM04 advised the Fashion Council Germany throughout the development process of the study and is jointly responsible for the selection of the case studies published in the report.

As already proven in the 2021 report on the "Status of German Fashion", Germany is one of the largest fashion markets in the world and is home to many internationally known fashion brands such as Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss. Therefore, trends and practices from Germany have a significant impact on the environment worldwide. The German Fashion Footprint study examines the industry's environmental footprint based on five main factors: greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, air pollution, water consumption and agricultural land requirements. The study is based on data from 2019, i.e. before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, as this led to a massive decline in production in many sectors of the global economy.

‍

The current environmental impact report took into account the impact of the activities of fashion brands and retailers within Germany and assessed the global impact of garments and shoes sold in Germany but produced abroad. According to the report, the greenhouse gas footprint of the German fashion industry in 2019 was over 38 million tons (CO₂e). This corresponds to the average annual emissions of 1.9 million German households or 8.7 million trips around the world in a family car. In addition, this value corresponds roughly to the total direct emissions of Slovakia in 2019 (42 million tons of CO₂e) or the direct emissions of the economy and administration in Sweden (47 million tons of CO₂e).

You can find these and many other figures and facts in the report. It includes case studies by Magnus Dorsch (About You), Amira Jehia (Drip by Drip e.V.), Melissa O de Leon und Larissa Roviezzo (Regenerate Fashion), Jana Neumark (Hessnatur) and Nora Milena Vehling (Fashion Revolution Germany).

You can download the complete report using the following Link.

For further questions please contact:

Henriikka Bierwirth

henriikka.bierwirth@fashion-council-germany.org

Tel.: +49 30 994 0489 - 61

‍