very. According to Arvind Devadasan, associate director of sustainability at Zalora, there was also a nine per cent increase in the share of sustainable products on the company’s platform in 2022 from the previous year. “We have made strides in transitioning to more sustainable materials in our operations and packaging, using 80 per cent recycled plastic in mailers, 100 per cent FSC-certified boxes, and replacing bubble wrap with 100 per cent FSC-certified honeycomb and paper fillers,” Devadasan told Inside Retail. He went on to say that the company’s sustainability approach is part of the Global Fashion Group’s (GFG) wider global strategy towards becoming people and planet positive by 2030. Three strategic pillars This is operationalised through three strategic pillars, namely: climate action, circularity and conscious consumption and fair and ethical sourcing.  He said these pillars not only guide the company’s sustainability strategy but also ensure its commitment to deliver GFG’s targets by 2030. “While we have set our 2030 targets, we will continue to monitor our progress and review our targets and company initiatives each year, as we take into account new and emerging innovations – in response to global shifts in the supply chain and retail climate,” he added. A work in progress According to Devadasan, the company has achieved a nine per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emission per million compared to 2021 levels, and 100 per cent of its energy consumption last year was off-setted with renewable energy certificates. “Furthermore, two of our own-brand capsules are made from sustainable materials and six per cent of our own-brand products incorporate sustainable materials, and three of Zalora’s key locations support at least one local charity (16 charity partnerships in the Philippines, two in Malaysia, and one in Singapore),” he stated. With regards to fair and ethical sourcing, in 2022, 100 per cent of Zalora’s Tier 1 own-brand factories are engaged in ethical sourcing programs, which are detailed on its website.  Some perspective This year marked the tenth anniversary of the deadly Rana Plaza collapse, raising questions about how much progress has been made when it comes to ethical manufacturing in the fashion industry.  The latest Ethical Fashion report by Baptist World Aid showed remarkable advancements in areas like tracing, transparency and policies, but outcomes for workers have failed to progress.  In many countries around the globe, the people making clothes for major brands are still living in poverty.  According to statistics in 2022, less than two per cent of companies surveyed have final stage suppliers with independent democratically elected trade unions or collective bargaining agreements, which means many garment workers are unable to raise concerns without fear of retribution.  In terms of living wages, the story becomes even more grim. Between 2013 and 2022, of the 120 companies that Baptist World Aid assessed, only four could provide evidence of payment of living wages at more than 25 per cent of their factories. Systemic issues Why are companies making such little progress on living wages? According to the Ethical Fashion report, it’s a systemic issue.  Even if a company pays a supplier a premium for their goods, it may not flow through to garment workers’ salaries, since each company is just one of potentially hundreds of brands paying the factory. What’s clear is that companies benefit financially from producing clothing in countries with low wages. Moving forward, a strong collaborative approach from all actors across the system will be needed to drive change. Lack of monitoring According to the Ethical Fashion report, the agricultural industry is one of the highest risk industries in the world for modern slavery and child labour. The 2022 Global Slavery Index showed that almost 50 million people around the world are living in modern slavery. This is a significant increase from 2013, when the report estimated that 30 million people were affected. One of the most concerning regions is the Xinjiang province in China, which supplies roughly 20 per cent of the world’s cotton. Most companies are still failing to trace and monitor where their raw materials are coming from, so they are unable to play their part in identifying, addressing, and remediating exploitation when it occurs. Amongst the 25 companies that Baptist World Aid assessed in both 2013 and 2022, just 28 per cent knew where the majority of their raw materials came from in 2022, in contrast to zero in 2013.  From the entire cohort of 120 companies assessed in 2022, 43.3 per cent of companies could not evidence knowledge of any raw materials suppliers.  Ultimately, the report stated that gaping holes in tracing and monitoring require immediate and systemic action to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable and exploited workers.