At the end of last year, we saw world leaders from across the globe gather in the heart of our city for one of the largest climate summits around. Social media and the press went crazy over what was going on. Now that the dust has settled, we wanted to highlight our top 3 key outcomes of the event:

Private Sector Transparency

Not only are countries being held responsible for the environment, but now private companies are too. They will be under much more intense scrutiny to ensure they follow through with their promises and commitments to a healthier planet. One major step was that all UK companies must produce a net-zero transition plan by the year 2023. This gives way for much more transparency from the big players in the game, and holds them much more accountable. We are big fans of this outcome as hopefully it can lead to big changes in the fashion industry.

ISSB

A brand new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has been established at COP26. The main focuses of this group will be on climate risk disclosure and reporting. This way, we can hold countries and companies accountable for their actions and how they carry out their sustainable practices. Reporting is a fairly mundane task, but we are hoping that if the ISSB are taken serious and adequate consequences are dished out for failure to comply to the rules, then it could work.

The End Of Coal

At least 23 countries have committed to phasing out coal power. This should come into play by the 2030s for them, with the rest of the world following suit in the 2040s. This list includes five of the world's top 20 coal power-using countries, making way for significant change in the world. Major international banks commit to effectively end all international public financing of new unabated coal power by the end of 2021. We are extremely happy by this one as coal in the fashion industry has to go. So to see significant action being taken to stop using and funding coal power is a major step in the right direction.

COP26 was full of drama and talking points. But at the end of the day, we're glad to see some progress being made in order to help the planet. Now all we need to do is make sure these large scale companies and world leaders are held accountable for what they have said they are going to do. Sustainability is easy to talk about, but not always a walk-in-the-park to follow through on. Their actions dictate how the public will act, therefore they need to be a good representation of what it means to be conscious. All eyes are on Egypt for COP27 in late November to see what else can be brought into fruition. Hopefully everyone will take action and help save our planet.

Written by Jonathan (Kleurstof Co-Founder)