Femnet e.V.

Vor dem Hintergrund der massiven Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch sehr niedrige Löhne schreitet die Diskussion über die notwendige Höhe existenzsichernder Einkommen voran. Trotz aller Schwierigkeiten, die mit der Ermittlung und Umsetzung eines existenzsichernden Lohnes verbunden sind, wird dies derzeit in vielen Branchen und Regionen versucht. Beteiligt sind Unternehmen, Gewerkschaften, Nichtregierungsorganisationen, Standard setzende Organisationen wie beispielsweise Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance und UTZ Certified, wissenschaftliche Institutionen sowie in einigen Fällen auch Regierungen. Die Aktivitäten in dieser Richtung haben sich in den vergangenen Jahren vervielfacht. Zwischenergebnisse zeigen, dass sowohl eine Definition dessen, was durch einen existenzsichernden Lohn abgedeckt werden soll, als auch eine regionalspezifische Ermittlung von dessen Höhe möglich sind. Erste Branchen arbeiten an Stufenplänen, wie die errechnete Lohnhöhe umgesetzt werden soll. Um diesen Prozess nachzuzeichnen, wird im Folgenden in einem ersten Schritt erläutert, wie die Forderung nach existenzsichernden Löhnen mit den Vorgaben der Vereinten Nationen (United Nations - UN) zur Einhaltung von Menschenrechten verknüpft ist. In einem zweiten Schritt wird erläutert, wie ein existenzsicherndes Einkommen definiert ist. Daran schließen sich Fallbeispiele aus verschiedenen Branchen an, in denen die theoretischen Aspekte in die Praxis umgesetzt werden oder wo zumindest eine praktische Umsetzung geplant ist. Die Broschüre schließt mit einer Einschätzung, was die Einführung existenzsichernder Einkommen für die Entwicklung von Preisen einzelner Beispielprodukte bedeuten kann sowie mit Forderungen an die Verantwortlichen für die Wertschöpfungsketten.

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Fast fashion is a clothing supply chain model that is intended to respond quickly to the latest fashion trends by frequently updating the clothing products available in stores. The shift towards fast fashion leads to shorter practical service lives for garments. Collaborative consumption is an alternative way of doing business to the conventional model of ownership-based consumption, and one that can potentially reduce the environmental impacts of fashion by prolonging the practical service life of clothes. In this study, we used life cycle assessment to explore the environmental performance of clothing libraries, as one of the possible ways in which collaborative consumption can be implemented, and compared the advantages and disadvantages in relation to conventional business models. Furthermore, the key factors influencing the environmental impact of clothing libraries were investigated. We based our assessment on three key popular garments that are stocked in clothing libraries: jeans, T-shirts and dresses. The results showed the benefits of implementing clothing libraries associated with the garments’ prolonged service lives. Therefore to achieve environmental gains, it is important to substantially increase garment service life. Moreover, the results quantitatively demonstrated the potential risk of problem shifting: increased customer transportation can completely offset the benefits gained from reduced production. This highlighted the need to account for the logistics when implementing collaborative consumption business models.

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So far, a vast amount of studies on sustainability in supply chain management have been conducted by academics over the last decade. Nevertheless, socially related aspects are still neglected in the related discussion. The primary motivation of the present literature review has arisen from this shortcoming, thus the key purpose of this study is to enrich the discussion by providing a state-of-the-art, focusing exclusively on social issues in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) by considering the textile/apparel sector as the field of application. The authors conduct a literature review, including content analysis which covers 45 articles published in English peer-reviewed journals, and proposes a comprehensive map which integrates the latest findings on socially related practices in the textile/apparel industry with the dominant conceptualization in order to reveal potential research areas in the field. The results show an ongoing lack of investigation regarding the social dimension of the triple bottom line in SSCM. Findings indicate that a company’s internal orientation is the main assisting factor in sustainable supply chain management practices. Further, supplier collaboration and assessment can be interpreted as an offer for suppliers deriving from stakeholders and a focal company’s management of social risk. Nevertheless, suppliers do also face or even create huge barriers in improving their social performance. This calls for more empirical research and qualitative or quantitative survey methods, especially at the supplier level located in developing countries.

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This guide is divided into three sections:

• In Part 1, the guide defines traceability and explores its history, benefits and challenges, including an overview of current collaborative schemes on traceability.
• In Part 2, the guide demonstrates a model for best practice in traceability, and provides an overview of the different models of traceability and the global initiatives operating in the arena.
• In Part 3, the guide provides guidance to companies around the world, large and small, on how to effectively engage in traceability.

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The goal of this study was to build an up-to date and well-documented Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) for organic cotton fiber (ginned and baled), representative of worldwide global production. In addition, the study provides a full Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of organic cotton fiber (comprising cultivation and ginning operations) and identifies environmental hotspots. To the effect of achieving these goals the relevant ISO standards 14040 and 14044 were followed. The process was verified by an accompanying independent critical review process.

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