Loading...
Global inequities and emissions in Western European textiles and clothing consumption
Mair, Simon Druckman, A. Jackson, T.
Mair, Simon
Druckman, A.
Jackson, T.
Publication Date
20/09/2016
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
© 2016 Elsevier. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
18/08/2015
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Collections
Additional title
Abstract
Rising demand for cheaper textiles and clothing in Western Europe is well documented, as are changes in the Textiles and Clothing industry's globalised production structure. We apply a sub-systems global multi-regional input–output accounting framework to examine the sustainability implications of meeting Western European demand for textiles and clothing goods between 1995 and 2009. Our framework estimates environmental and socio-economic impacts of consumption in a consistent manner and shows where these occur both geographically and in the value chain. The results demonstrate that Western European textiles and clothing consumption remains dependent on low-cost labour from Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC), principally in the Textiles and Clothing and Agricultural sectors. Conversely, we show that the wage rate for BRIC workers in the global value chains serving Western European textiles and clothing consumption has risen over time but remains low relative to the wage rate paid to Western European workers. Likewise, we find that profits are increasingly generated within BRIC and that they are now at comparable levels to those generated in Western Europe. We find a slight overall decrease in the amount of carbon emitted in the production of textiles and clothing goods for Western Europe between 1995 and 2009. However, the trend is not linear and the importance of different underlying drivers varies over the timeseries. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for a more sustainable future for Western European textiles and clothing consumption.
Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation
Mair S, Druckman A and Jackson T (2016) Global inequities and emissions in Western European textiles and clothing consumption. Journal of Cleaner Production. 132: 57-69.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Article