Fashion at COP26: What Happened? Webinar
Written by: Sophia Yang, CEO & Founder @ Threading Change, & Sarah O’Rourke, Communications Manager @ Threading Change
[5-minute read]
We’re hosting a webinar this Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 9:00 AM PST/12:00 PM EST and we want you to be there! This event is an opportunity to deep dive into policy and regulation at the UN level, as it pertains to sustainability and fashion.
COP26 was the first United Nations climate negotiations conference to happen in a post-COVID-19 world. Many countries and organizations were at the table, examining the feasibility of renewing climate targets, raising ambition in the process, and planning amidst the climate emergency during a global pandemic.
The UN Sustainable Fashion Charter is one of many agreements that also had renewed commitments. However, a multitude of urgent voices was missing from the conversation.
With the fashion industry being a top industry that can help us reduce our climate emissions, what really happened regarding Fashion at COP26, and why aren't more people talking about it?
We’ll be joined by three important panelists to have a deep dive discussion about what happened regarding fashion at COP26, and ways in which consumers, civil society, and industry can come together to right a harmful industry.
Rachel Cernansky
Rachel Cernansky (she/her) is senior sustainability editor for Vogue Business who previously covered, and occasionally still covers, food and agriculture, environmental science, health and global development for other publications including Nature, Science, Civil Eats and the New York Times. She will be joining our conversation on Wednesday from the United States, where she is based.
Muhannad Malas
Muhannad (he/him) joined the Stand.earth team in March 2021 to challenge global fashion brands to take strong action to phase out fossil fuels and become a catalyst for a just energy transition in countries where their products are manufactured.
After realizing the critical role that environmental pollution and injustice play in shaping health inequities during his graduate studies, Muhannad decided to pursue a career as a campaigner to help put in place government and corporate policies that put the health of people and the environment first.
In his previous role as a toxics campaigner at Environmental Defence Canada, Muhannad led effective campaigns to eliminate toxic chemicals such as bisphenols and PFAS from consumer products, hold corporate polluters accountable by improving environmental law enforcement, and reform Canada’s cornerstone pollution prevention law, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), to better protect vulnerable populations and environmental justice communities. Muhannad will be joining our discussion from Canada.
Puninda Thind
Puninda (she/her) is deeply committed to building a sustainable, prosperous, equitable future and to helping people understand and respect the interconnectedness of our world.
She specializes in building strategies that consider environmental, social, and economic prosperity. She is an experienced leader in ESG, employee & stakeholder engagement, impact measurement, and sustainability reporting.
Puninda is a member of our board of directors here at Threading Change, an international youth-led ethical fashion organization, and also Leading Change, which supports the development of young sustainability leaders. She is active in her local community as a member of the Global Shaper Community.
Currently, she is a graduate student in the MSc Sustainability, Enterprise, and Environment program at the University of Oxford. She has been recognized as one of Canada’s top 30 under 30 sustainability leaders, and as a Clean50 honouree for her contribution to the advancement of climate action.
Everyone here at Threading Change looks forward to continuing the fashion at COP26 conversation tomorrow at our webinar event.
If you would like to hear more on the matter, make sure you check out the Event page for the webinar and register here to reserve your spot!
About the Authors:
Sophia is a climate justice change-maker with extensive research and policy experience. She has worked for a dozen environmental organizations ranging from federal government agencies, ENGOs, to industry, and academia. Sophia has received Starfish Canada’s Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalists award in 2017 and 2018, attended the United Nations Climate Change conference twice as a British Columbian Youth Delegate, and DJs in her spare time. Threading Change was born because Sophia wanted to help raise young people’s voices in one of our world’s most polluting industries—the fashion industry. Doing so for our planet, and people.
Sarah is an MEB (Masters of Environment and Business) candidate at the University of Waterloo, where she is focusing her research on Sustainability and the Fashion Industry. She has a BGInS (Bachelors of Global and International Studies) from Carleton University and has over 5 years experience working for Ottawa-based, local companies that have sustainability at the forefront of their operations. Fashion is her main passion and she enjoys spending her free-time creating content for her Instagram, where she utilizes clothing and how we dress as a lens for exploring topics like sustainability, self-love, and body acceptance. Sarah considers herself an amateur mixologist too, and loves to entertain with a pitcher of sangria or a few martinis!
