Last week, the CFDA hosted “Fashion Climate Action”, presented by the Apparel Impact Institute {Aii}, an organization that identifies, funds, and scales proven environmental impact solutions in the apparel and footwear industry. Sacha Brown (Director of Professional Development, CFDA) was joined by Lewis Perkins (President, Aii) and Bryan LaPres (Directory of Industry Engagement, Aii)  to discuss Aii’s expansion of global work, programs and initiatives, which aim to reduce carbon emissions for reaching science-based targets with a 2030 goal as the initial benchmark. 

Perkins and LaPres discussed ways in which Aii is scaling its capacity within each of their areas of impact, with programs such as Aii’s Fashion Climate Fund of $250M. The fund is designed to unlock up to $2B of capital towards reducing carbon emissions by at least 45% over the next 8 years. 

When asked how SMB’s can work with Aii initiatives, Perkins says, “We can align a smaller brand’s suppliers to our regional approaches and recruit them into programs that will improve their footprint. If it’s a new region, we can seek to build a consortium of industry interest and potentially open up programs to those regions.” 

To learn more, watch the video above or directly on Youtube here.