\tSJ:\xa0What are the most pressing issues looming over the fashion industry when it comes to sustainability?
JMC:Oh, pick one! With 2030—the deadline for many corporate sustainability targets—hurtling toward us and the effects of climate breakdown becoming more acute, critical action on water, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions have become a matter of existential importance. There’s also the deeply human aspect of all this; I like to use the phrase, “supply chain is people.” Everything is interlinked and you can’t tackle one problem without butting up against another.
Do companies, large and small, understand what’s coming and what this means for them? Are they prepared?
JMC:I think the companies that are used to public and investor scrutiny have been working on many of these issues for a while—whether they are doing enough at a quick enough speed is the looming question. But the reason why there’s such broad support for legislation, including from some of the world’s biggest brands, is that need for a level playing field. You can’t have a fraction of the industry tackling what is clearly a crisis. The same rules need to apply to everyone.
This summit is titled “A Need for Radical Cooperation.” Why aren’t we there yet?
JMC:Fashion has been notoriously opaque for a long time: part of that is ignorance about what goes on in the deeper levels of the supply chain; another is a stubborn reluctance to share what might possibly give your rivals a leg up. Everyone is looking at everyone else, waiting for someone to make the first move. This is slowly changing, but we need to pick things up. Sharing a supply chain means sharing the responsibility, too.
\xa0\tJoin our Summit and catch Jasmin and the SJ team on our expert panels. | 
