Industry greenhouse gas emissions rise, but Textile Exchange’s benchmark shows bright spots
The greenhouse gas emissions associated with the total production of raw materials for the apparel, home textiles, and footwear industry have risen by 20% over the past five years, according to Textile Exchange’s latest modeling.
However, the subset of companies now reporting their sustainability progress into Textile Exchange’s framework has reached record participation, demonstrating momentum toward collective accountability and creating new opportunities for collaboration.
The increase in greenhouse gas emissions is being fueled by record-breaking material production, which reached approximately 132 million tonnes in 2024 for all markets. This is equivalent to four tonnes of fiber being produced every second.
The new numbers are drawn from Textile Exchange’s annual Materials Market Report, which tracks total production volumes for all fiber markets, and Climate+ Dashboard, which models the associated greenhouse gas emissions for the apparel, home textiles, and footwear sector. The data signals the widening gap between progress made and the global commitments set a decade ago as part of the Paris Agreement.
In contrast, the subset of companies that have committed to reporting through Textile Exchange’s Materials Benchmark shows progress is possible. Of the 423 participating brands and retailers, including subsidiaries, the majority are actively replacing conventional materials with those from certified sources, avoiding high-risk sourcing areas for natural fibers, and reducing their use of virgin fossil-based polyester.
“These latest insights show we’re at a critical moment,” said Beth Jensen, Chief Impact Officer at Textile Exchange. “It’s now nearly 10 years since the Paris Agreement, when countries around the world committed to trying to keep [the increase in] global temperatures below 2°C and ideally below 1.5°C. Since then, the data shows that greenhouse gas emissions from raw material and fiber production within the apparel, home textiles, and footwear industry have continued to significantly rise. Each year global fiber production volumes increase to record levels. There has been progress, but the time we have to transform our systems is running out. It’s clear that decisive action is needed.”
“The data we’ve released today makes clear the scale of the challenges ahead, but it also gives us a strong foundation for action,” said Claire Bergkamp, Textile Exchange’s CEO. “I’m encouraged to see real progress in our community as companies that are reporting are increasing their use of certified raw materials and reducing their reliance on virgin fossil-based polyester. The challenge now is to take this progress to scale.”
Key findings from the Materials Market Report
Textile Exchange’s Materials Market Report is the leading source for global fiber and materials production volumes for the last decade. It looks at total volumes used for apparel, home textiles, footwear, or any other application. Key findings include:
- 2024 saw record levels of global fiber production, which reached around 132 million tonnes in 2024, up from around 125 million tonnes in 2023. This has increased by approximately 34 million tonnes since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 and now equates to around four tonnes of fiber production every second.*
- The biggest increase in global fiber production was in fossil fuel-based synthetics, with polyester continuing to be the most widely produced fiber. It now makes up 59% of total global fiber output of which 88% is fossil-based.
- Recycled polyester increased from around 8.9 million tonnes in 2023 to around 9.3 million tonnes in 2024 but because of the larger increase in virgin polyester production, its market share declined slightly from 12.5% in 2023 to 12% in 2024. Recycled polyester is still primarily made from plastic bottles (98%).
- Cotton’s share of the global fiber market fell by 1% to 19% in 2023/24, but it remained the second most produced fiber in the world.
- For all fibers, textile-to-textile recycling remains low at less than 1%.
*An estimated 40–75% of this volume is used for the apparel, home textiles, and footwear sector. Work is ongoing to refine this estimate, addressing challenges such as identifying the most appropriate modeling approaches; capturing fiber losses in the supply chain; and aligning on the specific sectors and products included.
Key findings from the Climate+ Dashboard
The dashboard helps the industry track progress toward Textile Exchange’s goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with material production by 45% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline. This goal was developed to be in line with the Paris Agreement targets. The latest data shows:
- The total greenhouse gas impact of material production for the apparel, home textiles, and footwear sector increased by around 6% between 2023 and 2024. It has increased by 20% since the baseline was set in 2019.
- Polyester continues to be the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (approximately 43% of the total impact) due to the high volumes produced.
Key findings from the Materials Benchmark
The Materials Benchmark tracks the fibers and raw materials sourced by the reporting companies, as well as how they are addressing areas like circularity, biodiversity, land, freshwater, and forests. Key findings from 2024 include:
- A record number of brands and retailers are reporting to Textile Exchange, up from 57 when it started in 2015 to 423 in 2025.
- Among the subsets of brands that reported data on specific fibers and materials for both 2023 and 2024:
(i) The share of raw materials certified under sustainability programs increased from 58% in 2023 to 67% in 2024.
(ii) Virgin fossil-based polyester use decreased from 637,388 tonnes in 2023 to 560,029 tonnes in 2024.
(iii) The share of brands that implemented measures to reduce impacts on climate and nature during raw materials production increased from 77% in 2023 to 81% in 2024.
(iv) The percentage of brands with formal climate targets rose from 85% in 2023 to 88% in 2024.
Crucial role of data sharing and verified fibers
This latest Textile Exchange data highlights the important role that companies can play in reporting their progress and investing in sourcing fibers from recognized standards and certification programs. Both practices help the industry track progress and provide credible verification mechanisms.
Data from the Materials Market Report shows that approximately 34% of global cotton production now comes from certified sources, two-thirds of manmade cellulosic fibers (MMCFs) are produced using certified or controlled feedstock, and half of all mohair is certified to Textile Exchange’s Responsible Mohair Standard.
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