Taking climate action

Abstract

This paper examines carbon emissions across the garment sector as counted using the two prominent methodologies for calculating emissions – the life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon accounting in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into where and why the carbon intensity of textiles and garments varies across the supply chain and where activities to decarbonize the sector should be prioritized.

How washing behaviors influence GHG emissions in textile use phase: a PLS-SEM analysis of household washing behaviors in Shanghai

“…The analysis results indicate that the climate impact of clothing and footwear consumption rose from 1.0 to 1.3 billion tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent over the 15 years to 2015 (Peters et al, 2021). Based on the entire life cycle technology, the evaluation results of T-shirt clothing indicate that the consumer's use stage, precisely the care behavior, contributes to approximately 33%-50% or more of greenhouse gas emissions throughout its life cycle (Moazzem et al, 2018a(Moazzem et al, , 2021Luo et al, 2022Luo et al, , 2023Sharpe et al, 2022). According to a study on carbon emissions in the textile and garment sector, the accounting results of greenhouse gas emissions during the use phase of residential textiles indicate that the lower carbon footprint (CF) of natural fibers during the production process is offset during the use phase due to the high energy requirements of washing, drying and ironing (Niinim€ aki et al, 2020).…”

“…Based on the entire life cycle technology, the evaluation results of T-shirt clothing indicate that the consumer’s use stage, precisely the care behavior, contributes to approximately 33%–50% or more of greenhouse gas emissions throughout its life cycle (Moazzem et al. , 2018a, 2021; Luo et al ., 2022, 2023; Sharpe et al. , 2022).…”