ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has joined a nine-country initiative to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion and construction sectors.
The six-year, $45 million programme aims to transform supply chains in these industries by promoting regenerative design, replacing non-renewable materials, enhancing resource-efficient production, encouraging responsible purchasing, and improving post-use collection practices.
The initiative is part of the Global Environment Facility-funded “Integrated Programme on Eliminating Hazardous Chemicals from Supply Chains”, which seeks to reshape supply chains and drive sustainable practices in the target sectors.
The initiative also leverages an additional $295m from other sources to maximise the impact, the UNEP says.
Six-year programme aims to transform supply chains in both industries
Fashion and construction are among the top three sectors contributing to pollution, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), land degradation, water pollution and biodiversity. The building and construction sector is the largest end-market for chemicals, and producing 1kg of textiles requires 0.58kg of various chemicals on average.
Both sectors connect producers, retailers, and consumers from across the world and are characterised by complex, fragmented, global supply chains with globally significant impacts.
The integrated project is made up of nine projects in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Trinidad in Tobago in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Cambodia, India, Mongolia and Pakistan in the Asia-Pacific region, and one global coordination project, and the programme approach was approved by the GEF Council in June 2023. The country child projects are expected to be launched for implementation in 2025-2031.
While much of the focus in these industries has historically been on climate change and biodiversity, the transformation of fashion and construction supply chains requires a more holistic approach that also tackles pollution, the third prong of the triple planetary crisis.
The six-year ambitious programme, led by UN Environment Programme (UNEP), working together with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
The programme will drive improvements in policy, innovation, stakeholder engagement, and access to finance across all stages of the supply chain. It will empower women, youth, and local communities by integrating indigenous knowledge, revitalising local economies, and identifying sustainable materials and practices.
The programme will also strengthen South-South cooperation, regional collaboration and reduce the risk of burden-shifting and transform fashion and construction from sources of environmental harm into drivers of positive change. These efforts will aim to prevent the release of six million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 18,750 tonnes of hazardous chemicals into our ecosystems.
Releases of persistent organic pollutants into the air will be minimised, protecting air quality, while 825,000 hectares of land and ecosystems will be restored, revitalising natural habitats. By 2031, these efforts are expected to benefit two million people globally.
Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2024
