A year of action towards collective goals for climate and nature at Textile Exchange
Looking back at the impact we achieved in 2023
Our 2023 Annual Report looks back on the year’s key milestones at Textile Exchange and how we built momentum toward reaching our collective goals going forward.
About us
We’re driving beneficial impact on climate and nature across the fashion, textile, and apparel industry, guiding a growing community of brands, manufacturers, and farmers towards more purposeful production from the very start of the supply chain.
Mission
Textile Exchange inspires and equips people to accelerate the adoption of preferred materials through clear and actionable guidance. We convene the fashion, textile, and apparel industry to collectively achieve climate reduction goals and holistic positive impacts across fiber and raw material production.
Vision
We envision an enriching global fashion, textile and apparel industry that protects people and planet by positively impacting climate, soil health, water, and biodiversity.
Goal
At the heart of our organizational strategy, Climate+, is the goal of guiding the industry towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fiber and raw material production by 45% by 2030. This goal was developed to be in line with the Paris Agreement and to keep global warming to a 1.5°C pathway. But it doesn’t stop there. The way we lead the industry is unique in that it goes beyond just greenhouse gas emissions to ensure a holistic view of impacts.
We’ve been busy driving change through three key pillars of impact
To lean into our vision of system-level transformation, we’ve identified three key strategic priorities, which work to ensure that our community has all the tools and resources needed to drive change at scale – no matter their stage in the journey.
Building momentum by bringing key stakeholders together
Widespread, pre-competitive collaboration is vital to unlocking the potential of all these tools and resources. That’s why we’re doubling down on fostering alignment and partnership through our events, dedicated communities, and shared accountability initiatives.
Our community continued to grow throughout 2023, which saw our largest conference to date, the number of round table participants almost doubling from the previous year, and the launch of three new Communities of Practice on The Hub – a space for key stakeholders to share information, cross-pollinate learnings, and identify opportunities for action.
Providing access to accurate data and information on climate and nature
We’re working to make sure the industry is on the same page when it comes to setting targets for climate and nature, developing strategies, and tracking progress at the raw material level. This also means equipping the industry with the tools and resources it needs to reach our collective goals on time.
By providing access to the best available data and information, we’re fostering joined-up thinking across the entire supply system when it comes to issues like biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, global production volumes, and regional-based risks.
Enabling credible claims through materials sustainability standards
Through our materials sustainability standards and traceability tools, we’re more transparent claims and enhanced industry integrity.
Over the last two decades, our sustainability standards have helped us build integrity in the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. While our standards have historically focused on minimizing negative impacts, we are now working to raise the bar, setting standards that reward and measure raw material production practices for their contribution to beneficial outcomes for climate and nature.
Read our full report
Thank you to our driven global community
It is thanks to the support and action of our driven global community that we were able to reach new heights together in 2023, and we’d like to thank our members for consistently showing up to learn, share experiences, and grow.