AMSTERDAM – Campaign groups led by Clean Clothes and Public Eye are calling on Spanish retailing giant Inditex to phase out airfreight fashion. The groups will this week lobby Inditex shareholders ahead of the company’s AGM, pointing out that transport emissions of Inditex increased 37 per cent in 2023.
In response to Public Eye research on its volumes of airfreight fashion, Inditex claimed that since 2018, its transport-related emissions have fallen by 13 per cent and, in 2022, the company reduced the volume of its air freight by 25 per cent.
However, Clean Clothes claims Inditex has, “picked the one year when it happened to transport smaller amounts of goods by air, which is probably due primarily to the disappearance of its important Russian business following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
It added in a statement: ”In fact, the long-term trend shows an ongoing increase. In 2023, the transport-related emissions of greenhouse gases included in the Inditex annual report were 37 per cent higher than the previous year and it is likely that air freight made up the majority of this. At almost 2000 kilotonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2e), the emissions have reached an all-time high.”
Campaigners are now calling on Inditex to be open and transparent about its carbon footprint and publish data about cargo flights and emissions.
They are also calling on the retailer to begin a “rapid and complete phase-out of airborne fashion,” including setting clear targets and drawing up a phase-out strategy.
Other measures they wish to see Inditex take include redesigning their logistics systems so they can function “without these climate-damaging flights.”
