The global fashion industry, facing severe criticism for its rapidly growing carbon footprint, pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050 and halve its emissions by 2030.

The $1.5-billion apparel and textile industry, which had earlier announced to curtail emissions by 30 percent by 2030, decided to upgrade its commitment. Policymakers, scientists and activists has been urging the sector to adopt a science-based approach to reduce massive water, fiber and energy consumption drastically to become sustainable. 

According to a recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, the fashion industry contributes more than 10 percent to the global emissions, nearly equal to the aviation and shipping sectors combined. 

The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, comprising 130 companies and 40 supporting organizations, updated their climate target during the ongoing UN Global Climate Change Conference, COP26, on Monday. 

"This is an important milestone for the Fashion Charter, as it increases the ambition level in an effort to align the industry with 1.5 degrees," said Stefan Seidel, co-chair of the Fashion Industry Charter Steering Committee.

"It is a signal that we need to work closely together with our peers, our supply chain, policymakers and consumers to get on the track to net-zero," said Seidel. 

The UNEP report also warned that if the sector fails to take immediate action to reduce its carbon footprint, then its emission will surge by more than 50 percent by 2030. 

The fast-fashion segment, offering low-cost clothing stores, enticing consumers to buy more, has become one of the major challenges for the sector. 

Around 50 billion new garments were manufactured in 2000, and in just 20 years, the figure has doubled, said an estimate by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. But the recycling rate of these garments remains less than 1 percent. 

Textile Exchange sought policy change to incentivize environmentally preferred materials such as organic cotton and recycled fibers to meet the climate targets. It also demanded a robust system to identify materials used by the fashion industries that are green and procured ethically. 

"Sourcing more preferred fibers such as recycled polyester and organic cotton is an essential part of Gap Inc.'s efforts to reduce the impact of our products, and enabling us to progress against our climate and product sustainability targets," said Judy Adler, vice president for environment, social and governance at  Gap Inc. 

"Supporting this transition via lower tariffs on these products helps the apparel industry move swiftly towards a more sustainable future," he added.

Under its commitment to meet the emission reduction goals, the Fashion Charter will procure 100 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 to phase out coal from its supply chain. 

"In a time when the climate crisis is accelerating to unprecedented levels, we need the real economy to lead on climate action," said Niclas Svenningsen, manager of Global Climate Action at the UN Climate Change. 

"The strengthened commitments of the fashion charter signatories is an excellent example of such leadership."