As a patron of the British Fashion Council (BFC) and of London Fashion Week, DHL has commissioned a White Paper to explore how the fashion industry impacts the environment and to offer practical solutions to help fashion businesses become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The White Paper was presented on the opening day of London Fashion Week, 13th September.
Underscoring this month’s London Fashion Week theme of Positive Fashion, the BFC and DHL jointly developed this White Paper on Fashion & Environment, which was written by authors from climate change NGO Julie’s Bicycle and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the London College of Fashion.
DHL has supported London Fashion Week for over a decade, both as a partner and as a logistics services provider. Since 2017 DHL has also collaborated as a patron of the BFC.
“We’ve long been active in fashion logistics, offering our customers solutions they can use to make their supply chains more sustainable,” Katja Busch, Chief Commercial Officer DHL and Head of Customer Solutions & Innovations commented. “And with our 2050 goal of reducing our logistics-related emissions to zero, we attach great importance to improving sustainability in both our business and our industry. That’s why we decided to initiate the White Paper and give companies a practical guide that provides insights on how they can make their businesses greener.”
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council, commented, “We are delighted to launch this White Paper with DHL, one of our long-standing partners. The White Paper is part of the BFC’s Positive Fashion initiative and is aimed at helping designer businesses get a better understanding of sustainability, its importance and some actions they should take to incorporate it into their strategy.”
The comprehensive paper analyses the diverse ways in which the fashion industry impacts both the environment and the climate – from extraction of raw materials, the design process, production and distribution and ultimately to the management of waste. Almost 100 billion cubic meters of water are used in the production of textiles every year. In 2015, the quantities of greenhouse gases emitted in fashion production amounted to 1.7 billion tonnes. “The figures highlight the vast potential the fashion industry has to optimise its ecological footprint,” says Busch. “Moreover, customer demand for ecologically responsible and sustainable fashion has never been so high, so there are considerable business opportunities as well.”
Using best practices from the British fashion industry, the authors of the White Paper provide practical solutions to help make the fashion industry more environmentally friendly and sustainable. One area the paper focuses on is the empowerment of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), which make up the largest share of companies in the fashion industry overall. Although many of the examples used and the solutions provided relate to the British market, they are easily transferable to markets around the globe.
With decades of experience in fashion logistics and tailor-made logistics solutions, DHL also supports the development of industry talent. On 17th September, the final day of London Fashion Week, the winners of the DHL Fashion Potential Award will be announced. The award was launched by DHL and BFC in 2017 to recognise promising designer talent.
50 Years of DHL
2019 marks 50 years since DHL was founded by three entrepreneurs in San Francisco in 1969. DHL began as a disruptor to the traditional delivery industry, circumventing bureaucracy with an innovative new service to deliver documents by air overnight. Since then, DHL has grown into a globe-spanning family of DHL companies with approximately 380,000 employees in over 220 countries and territories that covers the entire spectrum of logistics and supply chain services. DHL’s customer-centricity and can-do culture have fueled five decades of innovation – from the DHL 1000, one of the first word processing computers in the world, to using the purpose built StreetScooter, an environmentally friendly delivery vehicle powered by an electric drive and developed by Deutsche Post DHL Group. With the Mission 2050 commitment to reach zero group-wide emissions by 2050, DHL is continuing to be a trailblazer in the logistics industry.
DHL – The logistics company for the world
DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. The DHL family of divisions offers an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfilment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 380,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialised solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 61 billion euros in 2018.
DHL’s GoGreen environmental programme:
https://www.dpdhl.com/en/responsibility/environment-and-solutions/gogreen-program.html
