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BY LEXI MCMENAMIN
AUGUST 9, 2021
The International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest climate report delivers a sharp warning: Some level of climate catastrophe is unavoidable, and it’s coming sooner than we think. But the report, released Monday, also issues a message of hope — there’s still time to prevent making things worse, if we take action now. As Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old climate activist and cover star for VogueScandinavia's inaugural issue, put it on Twitter, the report “confirms what we already know.”
“It is up to us to be brave and take decisions based on the scientific evidence provided in these reports,” she continued. “We can still avoid the worst consequences, but not if we continue like today, and not without treating the crisis like a crisis.”
Thunberg has been sounding the alarm on this emergency from every possible platform, including her Vogue cover feature, where she discusses how fashion contributes to climate change. “The fashion industry is a huge contributor to the climate and ecological emergency, not to mention its impact on the countless workers and communities who are being exploited around the world in order for some to enjoy fast fashion that many treat as disposables,” Thunberg tweeted alongside the image of her cover, warning against the appeal of “greenwashing.”
Greenwashing occurs when corporations seek to appear socially responsible while maintaining harmful environmental policies behind the scenes. As Thunberg points out, it’s now trendy to claim to be a “sustainable” brand, but mass production of clothes continues to have negative ecological impacts, including excessive water usage, plastic microfibers entering ecosystems, and overconsumption that leads to waste, with clothing ending up in landfills. Many fashion brands also rely on sweatshop labor, perpetuating exploitative labor dynamics, while expecting their “eco-friendly” branding to conceal those choices.
In the cover story, Thunberg reveals she has not purchased any clothing in three years, and the last thing she bought was purchased secondhand; but she also makes clear that individual consumption changes will not meet the needs of this moment. “You cannot mass-produce fashion or consume 'sustainably’ as the world is shaped today. That is one of the many reasons why we will need a system change,” Thunberg continued in her Twitter thread.
System changes are likely to be the only thing that can meet the scale of the crisis outlined in the IPCC’s latest report, which finds that, due to carbon emissions, global temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels — the milestone set during the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which sought to create a global consensus on combating climate change — within the next 10 to 20 years. Higher global temperatures will inevitably result in rising seas and increased climate extremes, and the IPCC report confirms that some of these changes are now unavoidable.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed the executive order to reenter the U.S. into the Paris Agreement, which Donald Trump had abandoned.
But grassroots climate activists believe that the Paris Agreement doesn’t go nearly far enough. They’ve noted that its organizing body is influenced by fossil fuel companies, and, most crucially, is nonbinding for participating countries. “The Paris Agreement is a starting point — it's a commitment to commit. Anything the U.S. has done in the past is insufficient,” Sydney Welter, climate advocacy and accountability in policy director at Care About Climate, told Teen Vogue in December 2020.
What might those commitments look like? In the U.S., Congress is currently debating a sweeping infrastructure bill that could help reduce emissions and create more sustainable living environments. The IPCC report also comes in advance of the November COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, which will serve as yet another opportunity for countries to recommit themselves to structural changes to respond to climate change.
Greta Thunberg Is in Vogue Scandinavia, Talking Fast Fashion and Sustainability
“The fashion industry is a huge contributor to the climate and ecological emergency,” Greta says.BY LEXI MCMENAMIN
AUGUST 9, 2021
The International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest climate report delivers a sharp warning: Some level of climate catastrophe is unavoidable, and it’s coming sooner than we think. But the report, released Monday, also issues a message of hope — there’s still time to prevent making things worse, if we take action now. As Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old climate activist and cover star for VogueScandinavia's inaugural issue, put it on Twitter, the report “confirms what we already know.”
“It is up to us to be brave and take decisions based on the scientific evidence provided in these reports,” she continued. “We can still avoid the worst consequences, but not if we continue like today, and not without treating the crisis like a crisis.”
Thunberg has been sounding the alarm on this emergency from every possible platform, including her Vogue cover feature, where she discusses how fashion contributes to climate change. “The fashion industry is a huge contributor to the climate and ecological emergency, not to mention its impact on the countless workers and communities who are being exploited around the world in order for some to enjoy fast fashion that many treat as disposables,” Thunberg tweeted alongside the image of her cover, warning against the appeal of “greenwashing.”
Greenwashing occurs when corporations seek to appear socially responsible while maintaining harmful environmental policies behind the scenes. As Thunberg points out, it’s now trendy to claim to be a “sustainable” brand, but mass production of clothes continues to have negative ecological impacts, including excessive water usage, plastic microfibers entering ecosystems, and overconsumption that leads to waste, with clothing ending up in landfills. Many fashion brands also rely on sweatshop labor, perpetuating exploitative labor dynamics, while expecting their “eco-friendly” branding to conceal those choices.
In the cover story, Thunberg reveals she has not purchased any clothing in three years, and the last thing she bought was purchased secondhand; but she also makes clear that individual consumption changes will not meet the needs of this moment. “You cannot mass-produce fashion or consume 'sustainably’ as the world is shaped today. That is one of the many reasons why we will need a system change,” Thunberg continued in her Twitter thread.
System changes are likely to be the only thing that can meet the scale of the crisis outlined in the IPCC’s latest report, which finds that, due to carbon emissions, global temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels — the milestone set during the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which sought to create a global consensus on combating climate change — within the next 10 to 20 years. Higher global temperatures will inevitably result in rising seas and increased climate extremes, and the IPCC report confirms that some of these changes are now unavoidable.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed the executive order to reenter the U.S. into the Paris Agreement, which Donald Trump had abandoned.
But grassroots climate activists believe that the Paris Agreement doesn’t go nearly far enough. They’ve noted that its organizing body is influenced by fossil fuel companies, and, most crucially, is nonbinding for participating countries. “The Paris Agreement is a starting point — it's a commitment to commit. Anything the U.S. has done in the past is insufficient,” Sydney Welter, climate advocacy and accountability in policy director at Care About Climate, told Teen Vogue in December 2020.
What might those commitments look like? In the U.S., Congress is currently debating a sweeping infrastructure bill that could help reduce emissions and create more sustainable living environments. The IPCC report also comes in advance of the November COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, which will serve as yet another opportunity for countries to recommit themselves to structural changes to respond to climate change.
