The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Image: Discover the SDGs
SUSTAINABILITY
‘Discover the SDGs’ Virtual Event to Support Decade of Action
Showing its support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Conscious Fashion Campaign launched its virtual event and exhibition “Discover the Sustainable Development Goals—To Power the Decade of Action” on Dec. 1. In collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, the Kerry Bannigan–founded Conscious Fashion Campaign will host the experience until Dec. 30 in order to promote the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that outline ethical actions. These actions have been presented by the U.N. to encourage environmental and social responsibility over the course of the 2020s to reach the goals by 2030.
“This is a critical time to accelerate partnerships to address the world's biggest challenges—from eliminating poverty, hunger and inequalities to reversing climate change and unsustainable consumption and production practices,” said Annemarie Hou, acting executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships. “The fashion industry is an important ally for the United Nations in this decade of action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.”
The exhibition showcases SDG information and tools in addition to a fashion segment. Discussions with fashion-industry leaders, environmental advocates and United Nations officials will include opportunities to hear from experts who work with Kering, Lenzing, Allbirds, PVH, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the British Fashion Council, Messe Frankfurt, Collina Strada and the Swarovski Foundation.
The “Discover the SDGs” event is powered by Arch and Hook, Artistic Milliners and Lenzing and is also supported by Interwoven, the ITL Group, Orta, Drapers, Fashinnovation, Kingpins, the Transformers Foundation and Raw Assembly. Attendees will hear from fashion designers Anyango Mpinga, Gabriela Hearst, Maria Cornejo and Tracy Reese.
“At Artistic Milliners, we believe any one entity alone cannot rely on fragmented work to achieve global impact. Therefore, we are leveraging the power of SDGs as the most comprehensive framework of collective action to bring about real impact,” Murtaza Ahmed, owner and managing director of Artistic Milliners, said. “Our efforts have led to our recognition by the United Nations Global Compact as the Global Pioneer of SDG 5: Gender Equality. We want to share our best practices with our peers and partners, and the Conscious Fashion Campaign provides the perfect platform to inspire the global fashion industry to action.”
Aiming to drive a new fashion norm, the event will present how the fashion business can approach sustainability by addressing climate action, gender equality, industry innovation, digitization, life on land, and responsible production and consumption. During the event, representatives will be present from the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, the United Nations secretary general’s Youth Advisory on Climate Change, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the U.N. Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/Food and Agriculture Organization, and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
“As we close out a tumultuous 2020, we have optimism for a new year with a path to recover better together,” Lenzing’s director of global business development, Tricia Carey, said. “'Discover the SDGs’ by the Conscious Fashion Campaign provides the fashion industry with the tools to make educated choices with regard to both the environment and society. Lenzing uses the Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for our initiatives to be a responsible, wood-based, cellulosic-fiber producer.”
Additional information regarding “Discover the Sustainable Development Goals—To Power the Decade of Action” can be found at discoverthesdgs.com.
