American fashion industry welcomes California’s climate accountability act

Organisations leading the American fashion industry have outlined their support of California’s proposed Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) in a joint letter.

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), the Accessories Council and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) came together to approve the legislation, expressing the importance of securing an evolutionary pathway for collecting emissions data.

The bill, introduced by senators Scott Wiener, Lena Gonzalez and Henry Stern, would require corporations that do business in California and have more than one billion dollars in gross revenues to annually and publicly disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In the letter, the trio commented: “The initial direction to enforcing agencies to assess the status and feasibility of assurance levels for Scope 3 reporting shows crucial adjustability and the safe harbour for good faith reporting of Scope 3 emissions demonstrates this legislation is designed to help companies succeed at a difficult task where imperfections are virtually guaranteed.”

The group also noted that the bill fell in line with their Threads Protocol, introduced by the organisations in January 2023 to assist policymakers in ensuring the advancement of sustainable solutions in the industry.

On the Act, AAFA president and CEO Steve Lamar, said: “The continual warming of our planet poses a significant risk to our industry and our communities.

“We believe it is essential that we work together, pre-competitively, to ensure that the industry plays its part in meeting our climate change targets.

“AAFA’s support for this bill means we are confident the bill meets the Threads protocol criteria.”