The fact that COP26, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, had to be suspended due to a global pandemic indicates us the fact that the moment to discuss has already passed and it is necessary to start taking real action and urgent measures: fundamental changes that do not only try to mitigate the consequence but also to correct the damage that has been done and prevent phenomena like this from happening again, which are essentially a consequence of the destruction of different ecosystems, as explained by Quammen (2020) " the situation of our ecosystems, and especially the decline in biodiversity in nature, have harmed us, making us more exposed to pandemics like the one we are suffering from happening again. "
This does not mean, however, that these events do not provide us with a wonderful opportunity to focus the world's attention on what is, indeed, paramount: the survival of the planet, and through this attention, we can elaborate strategies, rethink modes of actions and transform the traditional dynamics that have brought us to this point. Also, it’s possible to engage every social players into a greater or lesser extent, because although it is true that we are all in the same boat, there are sectors that carry greater responsibility on the one hand, because its contribution to pollution has had a greater impact, and, on the other hand, because its capacity for action is much greater.
In this sense, the fashion industry, as one of the biggest polluters in the world and responsible for generating trends and consumer culture, is also one of the sectors that has the most to do to avoid a climate crisis. A meeting of leaders such as the one at COP26 suggests that binding commitments and agreements will be reached, actions that will not only remain on paper because it was the people who have the capacity to make them a reality who are They committed to comply with them and although good faith is necessary, all of us as consumers and an active part of the fashion sector have security only in our actions, in what we can contribute to this titanic but urgent mission from our daily lives.
Fashion impacts us whether we know it or not, as Needham says (2020)
The fashion industry impacts the lives of so many people, whether you are involved in producing it, selling it, or seeing it. It has a universal voice that has the power not only to raise awareness about the climate emergency, but to demonstrate how we can adopt more sustainable lifestyles.
Each of us is a walking example that a different future is possible, and more than a choice, it is a responsibility. Through sustainable fashion we create possible, new and necessary realities. Either from a global conference with the most powerful leaders of each country or from a store that sells and produces slow and sustainable fashion, from a congress with politicians that impose measures that guarantee responsible production, or from communities that create garments with ancestral techniques. , stopping the disaster is possible, but it requires us.