Page 93 - Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

58 Anthropometry, Apparel Sizing and Design

the central idea being one of intergenerational equity. The report of Our Common
Future (UN, 1987) led to earth summits in 1992 and 2002 and, in 2012, to Rio
+20. Following the 2012 conference, it was suggested that sustainable development
is not a destination but a dynamic process of adaptation, learning, and action. It was
described as being about recognizing, understanding, and acting upon interconnec-
tions between the economy, society, and the natural environment (UN, 2012a).
However, despite earlier concerns that the world was not yet on this path, a frame-
work to meet the impact of some of the drivers of current change (production and con-
sumption patterns, innovation, demographics, political dynamics, and changes in the
global economy) was designed. This framework has since become the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals adopted by the General Assembly in 2015 and published as
“Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (UN, 2015).
During the period, these goals were being developed; there were different
responses from member states. Some regions and governments drew up their own
early strategies, with significant international and societal dimensions. A UK publi-
cation of 2005 incorporated five principles with an explicit focus on the environment:
helping people make better choices
l
one planet economy, sustainable consumption, and production
l
confronting the greatest threat—climate change and energy
l
l a future without regrets: protecting our natural resources and enhancing the environment
l from local to global: creating sustainable communities and a fairer world
(HM Government, 2005)
The second of these principles, “One planet economy, sustainable consumption,
and production,” became the umbrella under which a sustainable clothing UK
“roadmap” was launched in 2007 (Defra, 2011). It aimed to improve the sustainability
of clothing across the life cycle, from crops that are grown to make fabric to the design
and manufacture of garment, to retail, to use, and to end of life (Ibid).
The clothing industry is, as indicated earlier, a global economic success, and while
the roadmap is a UK initiative, it is linked to Asia, the EU, and the United States, as most
clothes consumed in the United Kingdom have a global supply chain (ibid). Many of
those supply chains have, however, a significant environmental and social impact (exac-
erbated by continuing high consumption levels). This position was made clear as early
as the Rio+20 conference (where the fashion industry was described as being not only
one of the world’s most polluting industries but also one that exploited labor across the
globe) (UN, 2012b). Aspects of which continue to be challenged (e.g., Greenpeace,
2017) and investigated by the recently launched UK parliamentary inquiry into the
impact of fast fashion on the environment (UK Environmental Audit Committee, 2018).
Notwithstanding these recent affirmations of the adverse effects of the apparel
industry, considerable progress continues to be made to reverse these global impacts.
Life cycle assessment of product, process, and services is being widely applied for
sustainability accounting (e.g., ISO 14000:2009 series). Clothing and textile organi-
zations are actively engaged in promoting and supporting sustainability programs and
providing certification of achievement (e.g., Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the
Higg Index, 2018), while individual companies who are at the forefront of life cycle