Karl-Johan Persson, H&M’s CEO, is concerned that growing awareness about sustainability will be bad for the fast-fashion industry and the wider economy.Persson explained that he thought that climate change is a serious concern. “It’s a huge threat and we all need to take it seriously—politicians, companies, individuals,” he said in the Bloomberg interview.
Karl-Johan Persson, H&M’s CEO, is concerned that growing awareness about sustainability will be bad for the fast-fashion industry and the wider economy.
Persson explained that he thought that climate change is a serious concern. “It’s a huge threat and we all need to take it seriously—politicians, companies, individuals,” he said in the Bloomberg interview.
“At the same time, the elimination of poverty is a goal that’s at least as important.”But as the CEO of a massive fast-fashion conglomerate, Persson is perhaps the worst possible messenger to rhapsodize about the complex economic transformation that will have to take place for us to survive climate change.
Brands like H&M and Inditex (which owns Zara) have spent decades developing supply chains that produce clothing as quickly and cheaply as possible, forcing other fashion brands to drive down their prices to compete.This came at a human cost.
H&M has come under fire in the past for the treatment of its workers. As recently as last year, a report came out that female workers making H&M garments in Asian factories faced abuse on a daily basis.Persson says that he’s worried about how changing consumer behavior will negatively impact “the elimination of poverty.”
And yet this argument obscures the fact that H&M doesn’t use factories in developing countries to be altruistic. It does so because of cheap labour.
There is a limited time to reverse the course of climate change. If CEOs of highly polluting companies don’t radically rethink their businesses from the ground up, there will be no way for us to avert the worst consequences of global warming.
