If chasing GDP and consumption is bad for the climate, what are the alternative economic models?

Fashion is one of the biggest industries in the world, generating around US$2.5 trillion in annual sales. It is also thought to be responsible for a sizeable 10 per cent of annual global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined, according to a McKinsey report.

No surprise then that it was high on the agenda at the COP27 UN climate change conference. At the event, the Global Fashion Agenda, a non-profit organisation for sustainability in fashion, launched an industry consultation, together with the United Nations, on climate targets – with one of its aims to create a range of measurable metrics.

Fashion is also one of the many areas where a lot of unnecessary, even wasteful, consumption goes on, making profits for companies and returns for investors – even defining national success. For the last 70 years, we have measured the prosperity of countries using gross domestic product – how much the total sales of goods and services has grown, without acknowledging the social or climate impact from economic activities.