Policy action on textiles

A dialogue series facilitated by UNEP

Alongside the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in February 2024, governments recognised the urgent need for a policy coordination mechanism to build coherence in the policy response to address the adverse effects of the textile value chain on nature, people and economies. To do so, governments called for a global policy dialogue on textiles.

Mustafa Tuzcu, Türkiye’s Deputy Minister of Trade, called for UNEP to “bring and convene a wide array of governments in an inclusive policy dialogue to facilitate the transition towards a climate neutral, resource efficient and circular textile sector”.

“A global policy dialogue allows for more international coordination for policy implementation and to share experience and knowledge on different policy initiatives” – Afke van Rijn, Vice Minister for the Environment and International Affairs at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands.

At UNEA-6, governments agreed that the dialogue series should be government-led, inclusive and address various aspects of circularity in textiles, including:

Shifting consumption patterns

Normalizing circular business models

Addressing production pollution

Discussing trade of used textiles

“We need to start thinking collectively about the issue of textile waste, and France is ready to get involved.” – H.E. Arnaud Suquet, France’s Ambassador to Kenya and UNEP Permanent Representative.

“Not only are we interested to learn from the success stories of other countries, we also want to learn from their failures” – Lydia Essuah, Director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ghana.

Policy podcast with global leaders

“Transforming Textiles: The Policy podcast with global leaders” sheds light on national policy interventions, their impacts and key learnings. It aims to amplify textile policy efforts at national level, and identify what can accelerate impact by having a more coordinated approach at global level.

Listen to this episode

In this inaugural episode of Transforming Textiles, UNEP sits down with H.E. Maisa Rojas, Environment Minister of Chile, to talk about the environmental, social, and economic implications of textile waste.

Chile is now one of the world’s top 10 importers of secondhand textiles and the largest in Latin America. In 2022, 124,000 tons entered the country, yet over 75% of this was deemed non-reusable, resulting in such items being illegally disposed of either in landfill sites or burned.

In this conversation, we explore why textile trade is important, the role that overproduction and overconsumption have played in driving down the quality of secondhand goods, and the policy action Chile is taking to tackle this crisis by advancing a circular economy for textiles and calling for international cooperation.

Events

UNEP leverages international fora to host conversations and explore gaps and opportunities for policy coordination at different stages of the textiles value chain.