Finally a consensus is emerging that smart regulation and legislation is essential for ensuring the fashion and apparel industries take responsbility for their environmental and social impacts. In the United States, one of the world’s largets markets for fashion and apparel, a number of pieces of legislation have been adopted or proposed. The New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act is currently the only legislative proposal we know of that will require bands to meet their Science-based climate targets or risk being penalised financially. What can we learn from this legislative proposal and where does climate action fit in to textile legislation in the USA overall?

Some of the key questions we will cover during this session will include:

• Can the New York “Fashion Act” and other US-based legislative initiatives drive climate action and emissions reductions at the pace and scale needed?
• What are the strengths of this approach?
• Are there any potential drawbacks?
• What is the current status of the legislation in New York and in other parts of the USA?