IDH releases 2019 annual report

Impact is the ongoing mantra for the Netherlands-headquartered IDH, and 2019 was no exception.

"The apparel sector is one of the world’s largest industries, generating around €1.5 trillion in annual revenues and employing over 50 million people. Though often a catalyst for economic growth in largely agrarian economies transitioning to industrial production, the apparel sector is also responsible for high environmental impacts and social challenges, such as cheap labour and exploitative, unsafe and polluting factories," states the report.

"With the international climate crisis and the social issues that come with this, the urgency to act has deepened. Addressing the negative effects of the apparel industry – such as occupational health and safety risks and environmental impacts – requires strong collaboration and leadership. We have managed to put collaborative action in motion to address sustainability challenges in improving resource efficiency at field level, supporting the development of chemical guidelines for the Vietnamese apparel industry, and facilitating acceleration of the efforts for on-product transparency concerning sustainability information for consumers," the report adds.

In the apparel sector, IDH operates in Vietnam, Pakistan, India, and China to address the challenges by developing sustainable business models, public-private partnerships that inform policy, and collaborative improvement programmes.

In 2019, IDH also explored replicating some of the programme’s successes in Ethiopia. "As a result, a Forum was formally established, convened by IDH, bringing together key public, private and CSO actors to facilitate the sustainable growth of the textile sector in Ethiopia, thereby achieving our goal to get five platforms up and running," the report said.

"Despite the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, we’ll continue our convening, co-financing, and innovation work in agri-commodity value chains. If there ever was a time to rebuild and strengthen sustainable trade on a local, regional, and global scale, it is now," IDH said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)