The major fashion brands caught out for faking emissions reductions

They’re the major fashion brands behind a big climate change con

As it stands, fashion accounts for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions,  making it the second-most polluting industry.  

But now brands are using a loophole to actually increase emissions without consumers knowing.

Over the past two decades, many major brands have signed up to a scheme called the Carbon Disclosure Project.

This is an independent body awarding different grades based on the organisation’s individual environmental performance.

But a new investigation by the Guardian reveals some of the biggest fashion brands including H&M and Nike are claiming a decrease in carbon emissions, despite their actual emissions increasing. 

The companies report their gross global emissions by calculating them against their total revenue.

As long as their emissions increase less than their annual revenue increases, the Carbon Disclosure Project will score a decrease. 

Climate change linked to severe weather events in Southern Africa

It’s believed climate change is responsible for a series of heavy storms that battered parts of southern Africa earlier in 2022.

According to researchers, the damage caused by these extreme weather events was also greater because of global warming.

The region was slammed by three cyclones and two tropical storms in the space of just six weeks.

230 people lost their lives and one million others were impacted by the extreme rainfall.

In January, storm Ana caused widespread and devastating damage from Madagascar to Mozambique.

But, a lack of data makes linking the frequency of the storms to climate change difficult.