Supported by a SEK 2 million donation from the H&M Foundation, New Zero World explored how culture, communication and creativity can help turn climate awareness into action. The work resulted in two key resources – Pop Culture: Bursting the Climate Communications Bubble and the Content Creators’ Climate Toolkit, created for communicators and content creators.

This article shares three insights from that work for communicators seeking to inspire climate action.

1. The problem isn’t awareness – it’s relevance and trust

The Pop Culture report found that 42% of people feel they are being lectured about climate change, 56% cannot confidently explain what “net zero” means and 52% feel powerless to make a difference.

Expert-led, top-down messages can unintentionally signal exclusion: “this is not for you”. Credibility grows when organisations and communicators “learn out loud” – showing what is known and what is still being tested. Research from A New Era in Climate Communications, another New Zero World report, shows that moral pressure and doom-heavy narratives often lead to paralysis rather than action.

Communication that centres lived experience and peer voices over institutional language is more likely to be trusted and heard. For example, the #VoteLikeAMadre campaign reframed climate action as a personal promise to protect children’s futures, anchoring the issue in identity and care rather than abstract data.

For communicators, transparency is now the currency of trust – authenticity built through honesty rather than authority.

2. Culture changes behaviour faster than campaigns

Climate is often presented as a standalone issue rather than woven into everyday life and values. When framed as an abstract global issue, it competes – and usually loses – against immediate concerns like cost of living, health and belonging. Research shows that even mentioning “climate” as the headline can reduce engagement, while stories that link it to familiar themes – fashion, sport, food, culture – open doors to new audiences.

When sustainable behaviour is shown rather than explained, audiences absorb new norms without feeling instructed.

The Pop Culture report describes how cultural meanings become part of everyday life. In entertainment and lifestyle media, when characters make choices that reflect new norms – without it being a “statement” – audiences register those behaviours as normal. If a character rents an outfit or shops second-hand without making a statement of it, viewers absorb that choice as part of everyday life.

For communicators, the opportunity lies in integration: treat climate as context, not content. Make sustainable choices visible, desirable and normal.

3. Fear, guilt and perfectionism are self-defeating

Fear grabs attention but rarely sustains engagement. The Content Creators’ Climate Toolkit evaluation found that many influencers and creators avoid climate topics because they fear being judged or “getting it wrong” – not because they don’t care. Audiences value openness and respond better when creators share what they’re learning and admit trade-offs rather than present polished certainty.

In an age of scrutiny, over-produced confidence can backfire, fuelling accusations of greenwashing.

Creators who replaced fear with hope saw stronger engagement. Content creator Michael Mezzatesta shared that he moved away from angry, critical posts to content pairing critique with a hopeful vision of the future – keeping his audience open rather than overwhelmed.

Communicators can normalise progress instead of perfection, showing that collective action matters more than flawless individual behaviour.

Now what?

Climate communication works best when it’s honest, human and hopeful. The tools are here. Now it’s up to us communicators to rethink how we communicate, what stories we choose to tell, and how we can turn awareness into action.

These insights matter right now because climate communication is at a turning point. Many people are already experiencing the impacts of climate change firsthand, yet there remains a gap between awareness and meaningful engagement. By connecting climate change to people’s everyday lives – especially their health, wellbeing, and the stories they already consume through pop culture – these approaches can make the issue feel more immediate, relatable, and actionable.

Natalia Vega-Tracy

Explore the tools

• Pop Culture: Bursting the Climate Communications Bubble (pdf)
• Content Creators’ Climate Toolkit (pdf)

Circularity is not only about fibres, fabrics, technologies and innovations. It’s also about the people who collect, sort and process materials.

In 2024, the textile industry produced close to 132 million tonnes of textile fibre, which is more than double its volume compared to 2000 (Materials Market Report 2025). At the opposite end of the value chain, there are billions of garments going to landfill or incineration every year, and less than 1 percent of the materials being recycled back into new garments (A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future).

Measured against how fast we produce, buy and discard, the textile industry is – in material terms – less circular than ever.  And circularity is not only about fibres, fabrics, technologies and innovations. It’s also about the people who collect, sort and process materials. And that work is still, in many countries, informal, insecure and unsafe.

For most of history, clothes were used in circular ways without anyone calling it circularity. Wardrobes were small, fabrics valuable, and garments were worn, repaired and passed on until there was almost nothing left. With industrialisation and global supply chains, that logic flipped. As production scaled and prices went down, fashion shifted from scarcity to abundance.  

Making this global, high-volume system circular is far harder than simply going back to how clothes were used before. According to the Circularity Gap Report Textiles, by Circular Economy, today’s textile economy is structurally linear. Capital, policy and purchasing decisions still favour virgin production. Without shifting those incentives, circular solutions struggle to scale.

Circularity isn’t new,
the system is

In the early 2010s, circularity was still a novel topic in the industry. Organisations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation helped change that. The Foundation’s 2017 report A New Textiles Economy gave the entire industry a tangible blueprint on how to design products to be used more, made to be made again, and created from safe and renewable inputs. Since then, resale has moved from niche to mainstream and textile-to-textile recyclers have left the lab.

As Mark Buckley, Fashion and Textiles Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, puts it:

“In 2017, circularity was an idea. Today, it’s a business imperative. It has captured the creativity and commercial ambition of an industry ready for reinvention. The shift that matters most isn’t any one technology or business model – it’s in how the industry thinks. In a world of fragmenting supply chains and resource pressure, the case for circularity has never been stronger.”

While progress is taking place, the last few years have seen momentum hit a speed bump, and in many markets, circularity is at risk of becoming a buzzword instead of business model. This, however, doesn’t mean circularity has failed. It means we’ve learned more about how complex it really is. While systems change is possible, it takes time, patience and the right incentives for every part of the value chain – including the current informal workforce involved in circular value chains, from collectors and sorters to recyclers, manufacturers and brands.

To make circularity work, there are three questions that need to be solved: How we invest, how we regulate and how we increase demand.

1. Increase investments in scalable solutions

Recent years have shown that circularity can create successful businesses, and those businesses have shown that it’s sometimes easier to reinvent the wheel than to fix the one we have. Resale is an example of this: platforms like Vestaire Collective, Vinted and Sellpy have gone mainstream, proving that extending product life can be commercially viable. Textile-to-textile recyclers such as Ambercycle, Syre and Circulose show that lowcarbon fibres made from textile waste can be competitive. The more capital that flows into solutions with a clear path to scale, the faster circularity can move from small pilots to industry-level impact.

2. Make circularity the rational choice through legislation

The EU’s new textile rules, from Extended Producer Responsibility to ecodesign and stricter controls on waste and green claims, point in this direction. Policy can level the playing field for brands and make it increasingly expensive to rely on virgin, fossilbased materials with no circular pathway.

But regulation alone will not deliver transformation. Policy must be paired with clear timelines, financing and capacity-building, otherwise smaller manufacturers and brands risk being pushed out rather than supported to adapt. Strong rules matter, but so does enabling the industry to comply.

3. Secure demand from brands and value-chain partners

Upstream partners also need clear, consistent signals to justify changing how they operate.

When capital, regulations and demand inside the system all pull in the same direction, circularity can move from trend to transformation. To get there, brands, policymakers and investors must begin turning pilot projects into long‑term commitments, and treating circularity not as an add‑on, but as a functioning operating system ready for hard launch.

Ann Runnel, founder and CEO of Reverse Resources

What happens to the fabric scraps, trims and cuttings left behind when garments, interiors, and other textile products are made?

For years, the industry’s spotlight has been on post-consumer waste: the visible end-of-life garments that consumers see rotting away in landfills across Africa, Asia and South America. However, the story of all the industrial waste being handled through informal, fragmented channels, remain untold.

Changing how waste is seen

To some, these fabric leftovers would be viewed as unusable. To others, like Ann Runnel, founder and CEO of Reverse Resources, it was an opportunity hiding in plain sight. That realisation began with what she saw on the ground in Bangladesh.

“While researching supply chains, I visited garment factories and saw large volumes of textile waste lying behind buildings, unmanaged and largely unmeasured. What struck me most was not only the waste itself, but the lack of data and visibility. No one could clearly say how much was generated, what fibres it contained, or where it ended up. That gap between economic theory, real industrial practice and environmental impact revealed a structural blind spot. I began to see textile waste not only as an environmental problem, but as a systemic inefficiency hiding significant economic potential”, says Ann Runnel.

That opportunity resulted in Reverse Resources, a digital platform helping factories sort their textile waste by composition, trace it digitally and connect it to suitable waste handlers and recyclers. Instead of mixed, low-value waste, the system generates structured, high-quality feedstock that can move into better recycling processes and higher-value products.

From three factories to a global network

One of Reverse Resources’ main turning points came in 2021 with the Circle Fashion Partnership project in Bangladesh, launched together with Global Fashion Agenda.

The pilot began small and grew fast.

“We brought 21 brands together and started with three factories segregating waste directly at the cutting table”, says Ann Runnel. “We connected that waste to the best possible recyclers and demonstrated that we could trace it from factory to recycling and actually build supply chains that delivered recycled products at a lower cost. That project put us on the map. It showed that we were capable of creating market disruption and behavior change, and of coordinating action across the supply chain in a way that enabled brands to track their waste, connect it to recycling, and reduce operational friction.”

Since then, the model has scaled far beyond that initial pilot. Today, Reverse Resources connects 18 global brands with 1,211 manufacturers, 239 recyclers and 166 waste handlers across 37 markets, turning a three-factory experiment into a global system for mapping and trading textile waste.

The change is visible in daily routines on the factory floor and beyond. Factories that once mixed cotton and polyester waste now sort by composition. Waste handlers that used to operate informally are entering global supply chains under clear criteria and shared standards. Recyclers receive better, more consistent input materials and can plan investments with greater confidence.

At Tarasima Apparels in Bangladesh, this shift has become part of everyday operations. “Waste handling has become a professional process in our factory,” says Mahbubur Rahman, Compliance & Sustainability at Tarasima Apparels. “Waste recovery has become part of our sustainability strategy.”

At Apex Spinning & Knitting Mills Ltd., the impact is equally practical. “Reverse Resources introduced a systematic approach to waste management,” says Rahamat E-Khuda, Deputy General Manager – Store and Inventory Control. “It helped us monetise materials we previously discarded.”

Shifting a slow market

Reverse Resources operates in a market that remains cautious about recycling and circularity, with many brands only now beginning to define clear strategies and targets for recycled content.

“The investment community does not really believe in the recycling industry yet. With stories about recycling companies going bankrupt and brands waiting for regulation to kick in before committing, the overall excitement in the market is simply not there. It does not feel like a trendy or high growth topic right now. It feels as if everyone is waiting for something”, says Ann Runnel.

The overall excitement in the market is simply not there. It does not feel like a trendy or high growth topic right now. It feels as if everyone is waiting
for something.

Ann Runnel

Despite challenges and lacking interest from the investment space, financial returns have never been Reverse Resources primary goal, impact has. And it’s beginning to show.

“For a long time, the conversations in the industry focused mainly on post-consumer waste and the lack of recycling capacity. That was the dominant narrative. By addressing industrial waste first, we create a workable business case and then gradually pull in post-consumer waste. This shift in mindset, from focusing only on post-consumer waste to recognising the potential of industrial waste, has been the biggest change I have seen in the industry over the last decade”, says Ann Runnel, and concludes: 

“It makes circularity feel less theoretical and more operational. It allows the industry to actually kickstart the circular economy in a realistic way.”

The Global Change Award backs bold early-stage ideas, championing changemakers who question existing models and develop solutions that benefit both people and the planet.

This year’s finalists take on some of the textile industry’s most complex challenges. Some are cutting reliance on fossil-based inputs and rethinking production efficiency. Others are unlocking scalable recycling pathways or embedding digital intelligence into factories to reduce waste and energy use.

The 20 finalists span four areas of transformation: Sustainable Materials and Processes, Responsible Production, Mindful Consumption and Wildcards – each addressing structural pressure points across the textile industry.

The finalists are now under review by our Expert Panel as we enter the final stage of selection. The 10 winners of the Global Change Award 2026 will be announced in June.

But now, meet the Top 20 finalists shaping the future of fashion!

Responsible Production

Curbon

Joe Wahba, Alan Zhang, Jinjin Chen US

Curbon is building an AI-powered decision tool that integrates environmental impact assessment directly into the product design phase. Using real bills of materials and supply-chain data, it models carbon, water and cost trade-offs before production begins.

https://www.curbon.ai

https://www.linkedin.com/company/curbon/

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EntroMetrix

Mohammed Ali, Iusiph Eiubovi, Steve Evans, UK

EntroMetrix is developing an AI-enabled optimisation platform that helps manufacturers reduce energy and resource inefficiencies. Combining digital twins with physics-based AI, it analyses operational data to identify bottlenecks, predict failures and recommend actionable improvements within existing factory workflows.

EntroMetrix – AI-Powered Industrial Intelligence & Metrics

https://www.linkedin.com/company/entrometrix/

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ThreadBridge

Md Ridwan Hossain, Bangladesh

ThreadBridge is developing an AI-assisted quality control system that detects fabric defects before cutting to reduce pre-consumer textile waste. Using wearable smart glasses and machine learning, it integrates into existing factories without replacing workers.

https://threadbridge.tech/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/threadbridge/about/

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Mindful Consumption

ALU

Donatela Bellone, US

ALU is a consumer-facing platform built on Digital Product Passports to support repair, resale and long-term garment use. By combining AI guidance, storytelling and gamification, it strengthens consumer engagement and extends product lifespans.

https://www.meetalu.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/donatela-bellone/

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Menders Without Borders

Bhaavya Goenka, Filippo Ricci, Orsola De Castro, India

Menders Without Borders is building a distributed network that connects skilled repair artisans with brands and consumers. By formalising garment mending as a professional service, it supports income generation and more durable consumption patterns.

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Sustainable Materials and Processes

AIPER

Ailton Pereira, Brazil

AIPER develops biopigments through microbial fermentation using non-GMO microorganisms fed with agro-industrial waste. The process reduces water and chemical inputs while achieving high dye fixation rates within a circular bioeconomy model.

https://aiper.com.br/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/aiper-co/

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AgroLyocell (Canvaloop)

Shreyans Kokra & Dhruv Gupta, India

AgroLyocell converts agricultural waste into regenerated cellulose fibre as an alternative to wood-based viscose and lyocell. By fully utilising crop residues, it reduces reliance on virgin wood feedstocks.

www.linkedin.com/company/canvaloop/

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ArtSilk

Anna Rising & Benjamin Schmuck, Sweden

ArtSilk produces artificial spider silk fibres using engineered proteins and a water-based spinning process. The resulting fibres match the toughness of natural spider silk and can be functionalised at the DNA level without additional chemical treatments.

www.linkedin.com/company/artsilk/

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Dawn Technologies

Peter Mangnus, Netherlands

Dawn Technologies separates cotton–polyester textile waste by removing cellulosic fibres and recovering clean polyester for chemical recycling. The cotton fraction is converted into higher-value bio-based chemical building blocks, improving the economics of blended textile recycling.

https://avantium.com/products-technologies/dawn-technology/

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DiamondCool

Shadi Houshyar, Australia

DiamondCool is developing a nanodiamond-enhanced textile that passively dissipates body heat without requiring energy input or chemical coatings. By embedding carbon-based nanodiamonds into fabrics, it lowers perceived skin temperature while maintaining softness and durability.

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EnzymeThreads

Alfonso Gautieri, Rossella Castagna & Emilio Parisini, Italy

EnzymeThreads engineers high-performance enzymes for PET depolymerisation. Its C09 enzyme variant demonstrates strong thermal stability and activity, breaking PET into its original monomers, a technology that could contribute to higher-quality polyester recycling.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfonsogautieri/

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Fiberly

Bénédicte Quinta, France

Fiberly is developing a regenerated cellulose fibre engineered to replicate cotton’s structure and performance. Building on the lyocell process, it introduces fibre shaping and surface texturing to address climate and supply risks linked to cotton production.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedictequinta/

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KelTex

Laetus Buberwa & Emeliana Said, Tanzania

KelTex is developing biodegradable bio-leather made from seaweed cultivated in coastal Tanzania. Marine biopolymers are processed into flexible sheet materials without land use, freshwater or fossil feedstocks, while AI-enabled sensor systems optimise seaweed farming conditions to support yield and local livelihoods.

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Living Carbon Capture Dye Systems

Henry Kavuma, Uganda

Living Carbon Capture Dye Systems is developing a biologically engineered dyeing process that uses cyanobacteria to capture atmospheric CO₂ and convert it into textile dyes, positioning dye production as a carbon-negative process rather than a source of emissions.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/living-carbon-capture-system/

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MicroHues

Suchitha Raghunathan & Anjana Badrinarayanan, India

MicroHues produces microbial dyes through fermentation as an alternative to petrochemical and plant-based dyes. Its biodegradable dyes function as drop-in replacements in existing dyeing systems, reducing water use and wastewater toxicity.

www.linkedin.com/company/microbeworks-scientific/

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Colour Earth

Aurelie Fontan, Meredith Wood, Christopher Ferguson, UK

Colour Earth is developing Regen Ink, a regenerative natural dye system that combines soil remediation with pigment production on polluted or post-mining land. Extracted using water-based or CO₂ processes, the pigments are formulated into inks that improve colour fastness and reduce reliance on synthetic dyes.

https://www.colourearth.co.uk

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Rhea’s Factory

Arzu Sandikci & Mert Topcu, US

RheaCycle is developing an AI-designed enzymatic recycling platform for textile-to-textile circularity. Using engineered enzymes, the system breaks down polyester and blended textile waste under mild conditions into high-purity monomers that can be reintroduced into manufacturing, including from dyed and blended garments.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/rheasfactory/

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Tera Mira

Jeanne Begon-Lours & Lucy Dain-Williams, UK

Tera Mira is developing a seaweed-derived alternative to elastane using a solvent-free wet-spinning process. By creating stretch fibres from marine biopolymers, Tera Mira aims to match elastane’s performance while enabling improved end-of-life pathways.

www.linkedin.com/company/tera-mira/

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Wildcards

Arxy Fashion OS

Meng Ji, Luxembourg

Arxy is building a digital go-to-market operating system that enables brands to present and sell collections through immersive virtual showrooms. By integrating transactional tools and AI-enabled brand–retailer matching, it reduces travel, sampling and showroom costs.

https://www.arxy.io/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/arxy

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MycoRenew

Tomasz Mierzwa & Katarzyna Turnau, Poland

MycoRenew is developing a fungi-based bioremediation system for mixed and contaminated textile waste. Instead of recycling fibres back into textiles, it converts treated waste into construction materials such as eco-bricks, addressing streams difficult to process conventionally.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mycorenew/

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Through skills training, Rita Rani has become an assistant embrodery machine operator. The stitching patterns she masters, the deadlines she meets, and the quality she ensures are exceptional. Photo taken at Fakir Apparels Ltd, Dhaka Bangladesh, October 2024.

Made in Resilience, produced by The Asia Foundation for Oporajita, offers a glimpse into the daily lives of the women who form the backbone of Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector. Through the lens of Oporajita, we celebrate their strength, skill, and the quiet leadership they bring to one of the world’s largest industries.

Following a previous exhibition, the photobook extends this work, creating a lasting record of the courage, dignity and resilience that underpin one of the world’s most important industries. Rather than presenting resilience as something abstract, the book shows what it looks like in everyday life – on factory floors, shared moments, and quiet acts of determination.

Made in resilience is a reminder that the future of the textile industry is inseparable from the women who power it. By listening to and learning from their experiences, we can better understand what a more inclusive and resilient industry must look like.

Charlotte Brunnström, Programme Director, H&M Foundation

Oporajita is a collective impact initiative initiated by the H&M Foundation, that brings together business, NGOs and community organisations aiming to support women garment workers through a just supply-chain decarbonisation – strengthening both climate resilience and human resilience at the same time.

Chloe So, co-founder of PulpaTronics.

This is a blog post by Chloe So from PulpaTronics, GCA winner of 2025.

When I realised Changemaker Week 3 would take place in Vietnam, I felt a myriad of emotions. I was excited to go to Asia and reconnect with the cohort, but I was also aware that this was the final chapter of the Changemaker Programme.

More than anything, I was looking forward to seeing production up close, to step inside factories and see how our innovation could work in practice, where it might fit and what real-world challenges it would face.

But once we were there, I realised Week 3 wasn’t only about touring factories. It was about seeing the system, and understanding the role we, as innovators, need to play within it.

Progress through collaboration

During the week, we visited Recover, Seduno Group and Dawn Denim / Evolution Lab, three very different production environments.

Whereas Recover focuses on producing recycled cotton fibre as a materials solution for circular textiles, Seduno operates on a much larger scale across knitwear and garment manufacturing. Dawn Denim / Evolution Lab, meanwhile, combines denim production with a strong emphasis on sustainability, transparency and workplace culture.

Moving between these different environments made something very clear to me: it’s less about size and more about values and mission. The way factories operated was shaped not just by capacity, but by what they stood for and how they saw their role in the system. Smaller operations often relied more on outsourcing, while larger facilities had greater internal capabilities.

In one of my daily reflections, I wrote: “I wish more factories shared the same vision of being responsible for their actions in the ecosystem. It’s really hard to move the industry as a single new incumbent – we need legacy players to change as well.”

You could feel the passion for what smaller factories were building. But you could also sense how difficult it is to drive change in an uphill battle. It further reinforced that real progress depends on collaboration, especially when larger operations can use their scale and influence to help accelerate transformation across the supply chain.

You could sense how difficult it is to drive
change in an uphill battle.

Chloe So

Why immersion matters

Only after stepping back and seeing the system more clearly did I begin to understand the complexity of what we’re trying to tackle, and how our product can genuinely impact the space.

One of the most significant shifts for me came from observing how decisions are made inside factories and where innovation can make a meaningful difference.

We saw that larger factories had more digitisation tools and very different operational pain points. By understanding where inefficiencies and constraints actually sit, we began thinking differently about how to scale our own innovation: metal-free RFID tags. It pushed us to explore new business model approaches and reflect on how our solution could impact not just processes, but the communities connected to them.

I realised that it isn’t only about solving a problem. It’s about positioning your solution within a complex system that already exists.

Chloe So

The worst thing an innovator can do is force a product that no one wants. Experiences like this validate, challenge and, more importantly, improve the solutions we’re bringing to market.

Closing one chapter, opening another

Throughout the week, GCA partners KTH Innovation, Accenture and The Mills Fabrica also facilitated hands-on sessions on ecosystem mapping, impact measurement and leadership development, shifting our focus from what we had observed inside factories to how we would apply those insights in our own work moving forward.

Week 3 also marked my graduation into the GCA alumni network. This moment gave me extra motivation. We’ve absorbed all the training and mentorship from the programme, and with the tools, frameworks and networks we gained, I feel more equipped and confident. I’m excited and motivated to see how far we can go.

Graduation isn’t only about moving forward.

It also represents a time to give back. The H&M Foundation gave us an incredible opportunity to grow as innovators. We’re grateful and excited to support the next generation of innovators and continue learning within the alumni network.

And for the next cohort heading to a production country?

Go with lots of questions. Visiting a factory is rare. Be curious. And expect to reconnect, reflect – and have fun too.

A diverse expert panel strengthens the screening process, ensuring that pioneering innovations are matched with practical, scalable pathways for a decarbonised industry that promotes just transitions.

This year, the Global Change Award received more than 450 ideas from 81 countries across six continents. Finding early-stage innovation is central to GCA’s mission: backing bold thinkers at the moment their ideas are still taking shape, when philanthropic support can make the biggest difference.  

To identify ideas with the strongest potential to contribute to systems change, the Expert Panel draws on expertise from across the textile industry – including science, technology, manufacturing, policy, business, investment, entrepreneurship and fashion leadership.

The Expert Panel includes:

• Anant Ahuja, Director of ESG and Sustainability at Shahi Exports
• Anish Malpani, Founder, Without®
• Ann Runnel, Founder & CEO of Reverse Resources
• Lewis Shuler, VP of Advanced Concepts
• Matthew Drinkwater, Director Fashion Innovation Agency, London College of Fashion
• Omoyemi Akerele, Founder and Executive Director, Lagos Fashion Week
• Pauline Op de Beeck, Climate Portfolio Director, Apparel Impact Institute

Different lenses on early-stage potential

A diverse panel strengthens the screening process, ensuring that pioneering innovations are matched with practical, scalable pathways for a decarbonised industry that promotes just transitions.

“I’m excited to help identify early ideas that can become real-world solutions for people and planet, including meaningful emissions reduction, says Lewis Shuler. “I bring a perspective shaped by bridging brand innovation and manufacturing realities. It gives me a systems view of what it takes to move from concept to prototype to production.”

This moment – between recognition and real-world testing – is where the right kind of support can shape an idea’s trajectory.

“Global Change Award’s role in supporting early-stage innovationis vital, says panelist Omoyemi Akerele. “It’s particularly impactful because it goes far beyond financial support. The multi-pronged approach and sustained guidance create an environment where ideas are nurtured and positioned for long-term success.”

Lewis Shuler adds: “Early-stage innovation often struggles to find the right support, too early for many investors and too unproven for many brands. Some teams also need help translating a promising idea into something that fits real supply chains and brand requirements. Global Change Award can be a critical bridge, connecting innovators with the expertise and mentorship that helps ideas mature into solutions that partners can pilot and scale.”

Together shaping the next wave of changemakers

Over the coming weeks, the Expert Panel will review the Top 20 finalists: changemakers from across the globe whose innovations have been shortlisted for their potential to contribute to a decarbonise fashion.

“The industry needs innovation that moves beyond incremental improvement and tackles system-level change, says Matthew Drinkwater. “This includes scalable circular material solutions, smarter use of data and technology to reduce waste, and new business models that decouple growth from resource consumption. We are also reaching a point where generative AI could begin to reshape how we think about materials themselves. The next textile revolution will be engineered in labs and code as much as it is woven on the loom.”

Omoyemi agrees, while emphasising the social perspective: “I am especially looking forward to people-centric solutions. While technology is vital for building climate solutions, we must ensure it does not come at the expense of people. Among the finalists, I’m hoping to find commitment, a strong sense of community, and a genuinely collaborative approach.”

From review to decision

Following this process, the Expert Panel, in collaboration with the H&M Foundation team, will recommend ten winners for Global Change Award 2026. The final decision will be made by the H&M Foundation Board, and the winners will be announced in June.

But first things first – the Top 20 list will be revealed on March 4. Stay tuned as the next generation of changemakers comes into focus.

Since 2022, the H&M Foundation and Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) have collaborated through the Fashion Climate Fund to support industry-wide decarbonisation in the textile industry. Early work focused on building the conditions for scale – supporting proven solutions such as renewable electricity, energy efficiency and the phase-out of coal in manufacturing. Building on that, the H&M Foundation is committing a further SEK 24 million over three years (2025–2028) to continue supporting Aii’s work through the Fashion Climate Fund.

So what does the data show? Across Aii’s latest research, a consistent picture begins to emerge.

The emissions curve is bending the wrong way

The most recent Taking stock of progress against the roadmap to net zero delivers a stark finding: apparel sector emissions increased by 7.5% year-on-year, reaching approximately 944 million tonnes of CO₂e in 2023. This marks the first significant increase since Aii began tracking sector emissions in 2019.

The rise comes at a critical moment. To remain on a 1.5°C-aligned pathway, the textile industry would need to reduce emissions by around 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels. Instead, emissions are moving in the opposite direction.

The report identifies growth in polyester production as the primary driver behind the increase, underscoring a structural challenge for the industry: efficiency gains and targeted interventions are being outpaced by volume growth. Importantly, where emissions sit across the value chain has changed little.

Textile processing (Tier 2) continues to account for roughly 55% of total apparel sector emissions, followed by raw material production at around 22%. This concentration means that the path to meaningful reductions depends less on incremental improvements elsewhere, and far more on tackling energy-intensive manufacturing processes.

“The sector is not yet moving fast enough,” says Lewis Perkins, President and CEO of Apparel Impact Institute. “Despite the headlines and climate commitments, there is a gap in action, investment, and scale.”

The report also shows reasons for cautious optimism. More than 600 apparel, footwear and textile companies now have approved science-based targets or commitments to set them, and there are clear examples of brands and manufacturers achieving absolute emissions reductions. But these examples have not yet shifted the industry’s overall trajectory.

The challenge, increasingly, is not a lack of intent – but the ability to align action, investment and accountability at the scale required.

Where emissions actually sit – and why that changes priorities

The emissions data has direct implications for where the industry should focus its efforts.

With Tier 2 manufacturing dominating the industry’s footprint, thermal energy – the heat and steam required for wet processing – emerges as the single most important decarbonisation lever. This is the focus of Aii’s Low-carbon thermal energy roadmap for the textile industry, which moves beyond ambition and into comparative, country-specific analysis.

The roadmap evaluates pathways for decarbonising thermal energy across major sourcing countries including China, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia, comparing electrification options (electric boilers and heat pumps) with alternative fuels such as biomass and natural gas. The analysis considers emissions performance, lifetime cost and feasibility under different grid and renewable-energy scenarios.

Its conclusion is that electrification paired with renewable electricity is the only credible long-term pathway compatible with net zero.

Across geographies, heat pumps consistently outperform other technologies when renewable electricity is available, delivering both lower emissions and lower lifetime costs due to their high efficiency. Electric boilers can play a role in the near term where heat pumps are not yet viable, but their climate benefit depends entirely on grid decarbonisation and renewable power procurement.

The roadmap’s comparative analysis shows a narrowing set of viable options:

• Heat pumps deliver the lowest emissions and lowest lifetime costs where renewable electricity is available.
• Electric boilers can play a near-term role, but only deliver climate benefits as grids decarbonise.
• Sustainable biomass may offer limited, transitional emissions reductions, but is constrained by feedstock availability, rising costs and deforestation risk.
• Natural gas is not net-zero compatible due to methane leakage and the risk of long-term fossil lock-in.

“If the apparel sector is serious about climate action, we have to tackle thermal energy,” says Perkins. “The roadmap shows it’s possible – and that the biggest gains come from supporting the manufacturers doing the hardest work.”

The analysis also highlights a critical caveat: electrification alone does not guarantee emissions reductions. Without parallel progress on renewable electricity and grid decarbonisation, emissions can simply shift upstream rather than decline.

Supplier action is growing – but uneven and constrained

Across the three reports, a consistent and cautious picture emerges on supplier action.

Manufacturers are taking steps to reduce emissions where conditions allow – improving energy efficiency, increasing renewable electricity use, and, in some cases, beginning the transition away from coal. However, this progress is uneven, shaped by geography, facility type, access to finance and the structure of brand–supplier relationships.

“We believe that supplier success is industry success,” says Perkins. “Aii’s programmes are designed to scale what works – regionally, financially, and operationally – while ensuring supplier voice and feasibility are central.”

The evidence does not suggest universal readiness or capacity. Instead, it points to fragmented progress, with many suppliers constrained by high upfront capital requirements, long payback periods and uncertainty around long-term demand signals.

This is where system design becomes decisive.

“If we expect suppliers to move first without addressing how cost, risk and responsibility are shared, progress will stall,” says Christiane Dolva, Head of Innovation, Research & Demonstration at the H&M Foundation. “The evidence shows that suppliers are taking action, but they are often doing so within systems that were not designed to support this kind of transition. For change to scale, that transition also needs to be a just one where workers and communities are included, and where the shift to lower emissions does not come at the expense of people’s livelihoods or agency.”

Just transition is a practical condition for durable change. Decarbonisation pathways that undermine jobs, skills or local economies are unlikely to scale or endure.

Why finance, not technology, is the real bottleneck

If the thermal energy roadmap clarifies what needs to happen technically, the Brand playbook for financing decarbonization focuses on how to unlock it in practice.

The playbook identifies twelve practical financial “plays” that brands can use to enable supplier decarbonisation – including:

• Guarantees and credit enhancement
• Co-investment in on-site upgrades
• Sustainability-linked pricing
• Long-term purchasing commitments
• Brand-backed debt or concessional financing

Each play is assessed using consistent criteria, examining its impact on producer incentives, cost of capital, execution complexity and risk for brands.

The central finding is that supplier decarbonisation will not scale without brand-backed finance. Brands are uniquely positioned to reduce risk, lower financing costs and send credible demand signals, yet these tools remain under-utilised and often disconnected from core sourcing and finance decisions.

“Our role is not only to deploy credible solutions,” says Perkins, “but also to unlock the commercial pathways and cross-sector partnerships required to drive sector-wide transformation.”

Importantly, the playbook frames financial engagement as a core business lever, rather than an optional or peripheral sustainability activity. It emphasises that different suppliers and regions require different approaches, and that technical assistance alone – while necessary – is no longer sufficient.

What this evidence adds up to now

Taken together, the three reports point to a consistent conclusion.

The apparel sector is not short of solutions or technology. The barriers lie in speed, scale and alignment – between where emissions sit, which pathways are technically and economically viable, and how investment and risk are distributed across the value chain.

For brands, investors and industry leaders, the implications are:

• Tier 2 manufacturing and thermal energy must be prioritised, even where transitions are complex.
• Electrification paired with renewable electricity needs to be planned alongside grid decarbonisation.
• Financial and commercial models must evolve to enable suppliers to act without bearing disproportionate risk.
• Workers and communities must be included, ensuring the transition does not undermine livelihoods.

“There’s no pathway to net zero without supporting the implementation of solutions on the ground,” says Perkins. “We risk failing not just the planet, but the people and economies our value chain depends on.”

A call to engage

Apparel Impact Institute is working to mobilise $250 million in blended capital through the Fashion Climate Fund to accelerate the implementation of proven climate solutions where emissions are highest.

For brands, investors and industry leaders interested in learning more – or exploring how to engage, collaborate or contribute – Aii invites interested parties to get involved and continue the conversation. Learn more.

Anna Gedda, CEO at the H&M Foundation

This is a blog post by Anna Gedda, CEO at the
H&M Foundation.

From working closely with partners across the textile ecosystem, I see both momentum and tension in the system. Progress is happening, but not evenly, and often under pressure. Looking ahead to 2026, I think that three shifts stand out as particularly defining.

Regulation is raising the bar

First, there is a gradual levelling of the playing field on production and consumption standards. New and upcoming regulations in the EU, from both due-diligence requirements to product-level transparency, alongside legislative developments in parts of the US and other regions, pushes sustainability from being a voluntary commitment into a core business responsibility. This is starting to show up in how brands, manufacturers and suppliers integrate sustainability into their business plans and signals a growing willingness to increase accountability for both large and small actors. That said, ambition is now outpacing action, and at the current speed, the industry is struggling to translate regulatory requirements into operational reality, which may slower the pace of impact. Looking ahead, the key to success will be readiness rather than awareness. As requirements tighten and enforcement increases, companies that have invested in traceability, supplier engagement and internal governance will be better equipped to adapt.

Decarbonisation by following
the tons

Second, attention is shifting even more towards where the majority of industry’s climate impact actually sits: in the supply chains. While consumer-facing initiatives remain important, there is growing recognition that climate progress will depend on reducing emissions in energy-intensive production processes such as material manufacturing, dyeing and finishing.

With this part of the supply chain being responsible for approx. 2/3 of emissions decarbonising these stages is no longer something for “later” if the industry is to meet its climate targets. The solutions are not easy, but they start to exist on a scale with increasing access to renewable energy, investment in new technologies, and a willingness to share responsibility across different parts of the value chain.

Inclusion is moving from the margins to the centre

Third, I’m particularly encouraged by signs of greater inclusion across the industry, especially in relation to the green transition. This shows up not only in representation, but also in questions of who has a voice, agency and decision-making power, especially when it comes to global supply chains. Voices from local communities and indigenous people, for example, are slowly gaining more space in global conversations, which is an essential perspective if the transition is to be both credible and fair.

A volatile global context is testing long-term commitments

At the same time, the challenges are very real. We started this new year with increased geopolitical tensions, tariff wars and a high level of uncertainty, which makes long-term planning and decisiveness harder for everyone. Although most of us are longing for peace and stability and firm commitments to climate action and a just transition we are currently finding ourselves in a world with much of opposite.

My hope is therefore that we continue to take decisions with principles and a long-term view in mind. Sustainability can’t be something we return to when conditions improve, it needs to be embedded into everyday decision-making, in both the short and the long term. That’s where I continue to focus my own efforts: supporting a textile industry that moves decisively towards decarbonisation, while deepening its commitment to inclusion and social equity at the same time.