Working together for fair clothing

Clothes can be bought quickly, but it takes much longer to find out whether they have been produced ethically. The Green Button label makes this easier by certifying companies that take on responsibility for human rights and environmental standards in their supply chains. The Textiles Partnership takes this a stage further – the initiative works with textiles companies to implement joint measures aimed at improving working and environmental conditions in clothing factories in the production countries.

The initiatives were launched by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in response to the Rana Plaza disaster 12 years ago, when the collapse of the Rana Plaza clothing factory in Bangladesh claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people. The incident prompted a change in thinking in politics, society and business and led to calls for greater corporate responsibility. The Textiles Partnership was a direct response, while the Green Button scheme was launched five years ago.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) promotes both measures, and the results are tangible. In the past ten years, the Textiles Partnership has supported more than 12,000 smallholder farmers in transitioning to organic cotton production, for example. Furthermore, some 160,000 people can now file an official complaint if they are subjected to unfair working conditions. The Green Button scheme has also been a success. Since the label was introduced, more than 100 German companies have successfully completed the certification audit. This shared responsibility for sustainable standards benefits more than 6,500 suppliers in 30 production countries.

There are advantages for companies as well as textiles workers in the countries of origin: ‘It is empowering to know that our voices are being heard and that working conditions are gradually improving,’ explains Saba Tahir, a technician at the Pakistani textiles manufacturer Kohinoor Mills. Esther Geue from the clothing manufacturer Weitblick adds: ‘Certification has allowed us to take many of our corporate due diligence obligations to a new level, for example with a long-term strategy for establishing living wages.’