Improving transparency in global fashion value chains
Published date: 15 July 2025
Consultation underway for a GRI Sector Standard for textiles and apparel
A new sustainability reporting standard to advance accountability in one of the world’s most impactful, complex and competitive sectors – textiles and apparel – is one step closer, following the launch of a global public comment period by GRI.
The proposed Textiles & Apparel Sector Standard is designed for all organizations in textiles, clothing, footwear or jewelry production and manufacturing, for both retail and wholesale. It addresses impacts across all levels of the supply chain and up to point-of-sale and the consultation is now open until 28 September 2025.
Central to the project to create a new GRI Sector Standard is the urgent need to address a lack of traceability and transparency in globally dispersed value chains of textile and apparel. This makes it challenging to identify, report on, and manage a variety of impacts, including water pollution from hazardous chemicals, excessive working hours, and gender discrimination. Additionally, organizations operating across multiple countries – each with diverse commercial and regulatory requirements – need a globally consistent set of metrics to meet both reporting needs and stakeholder expectations.
The global consultation seeks feedback from stakeholders on the exposure draft’s clarity, feasibility, completeness, and relevance. The aim is to enable more complete and consistent reporting by the textiles and apparel organizations that reflects their wide-ranging environmental, economic and social impacts, including on human rights.
Peter Dawkins, GRI Standards Senior Manager and project lead for developing the new Standard, said:
“The textiles and apparel sector provides essential goods to millions of people across the world – but with its size, complexity and fragmentation come serious risks to people and planet. By enhancing accountability and transparency for their environmental, social and economic impacts, the new Sector Standard will aim to help organizations report more effectively and embed responsible business practices throughout their operations. We invite all stakeholders – from suppliers and brands to civil society and investors – to help shape a robust and practical standard that reflects the sector’s realities and opportunities.”
Chulendra de Silva is a member of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the independent body responsible for setting the GRI Standards. He said:
“Sustainability in textiles and apparel is essential, given the industry’s far-reaching environmental impacts – from water and energy consumption to chemical use and waste generation. Social impacts are equally significant, affecting workers, retailers, and end-use customers. While responsible manufacturing and supply chain practices are vital, retailers also play a critical role by fostering respectful partnerships, ensuring fair pricing, and engaging proactively with suppliers. The GSSB believes that a new GRI Sector Standard for Textiles and Apparel can empower organizations to identify their most significant impacts and report on them with clarity and transparency – driving a more ethical, accountable and sustainable industry.”
To learn more about the proposed Standard, two free global webinars will take place – at 5pm CEST on 21 July and 10:00am CEST on 15 September – with registration now open.
Among the most notable impacts of textiles and apparel production are water pollution, the use of hazardous chemicals, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste – with over half of clothes and other textiles being incinerated or landfilled. The apparel industry, in particular, is labor-intensive, employing an estimated 70 million people, the majority of whom are young women. Poor working conditions, wages that do not meet the living standards, harassment and forced and child labor remain some of the biggest concerns for the sector.
The development process for the Textiles & Apparel Standard has been led by a multi-stakeholder Working Group, appointed by the GSSB under a due process protocol, consisting of 21 experts from the across the sector representing civil society, business enterprises, and mediating, labor and investment institutions.
GRI Sector Standards streamline reporting, providing a fast-track for companies with shared common activities to focus on the impacts on the economy, environment and society that matter most in their sector. More consistent reporting on sector-specific impacts increases transparency, accountability, and comparability. Reporting organizations start with the Universal Standards, then use applicable Sector Standard(s) to determine material topics, and report on those using relevant Topic Standards.