A new report from Collective Fashion Justice claims wool, leather and cashmere are responsible for 75% of fashion’s methane emissions, despite making up less than 4% of the global fibre mix. By Brett Mathews of Apparel Insider.

The report urges brands to phase out these fibres entirely.

Today, in an OPEN ACCESS article on Apparel Insider , we open up a broader debate about this issue. We’d love to hear your thoughts once you’ve read it.

Among other things we argue the case to look at animal fibres from a holistic standpoint.

We look at new research led by Paul Swan et al which argues that conventional LCAs overstate wool’s footprint by ignoring its biogenic carbon cycle.

In short, when carbon flows through soils and vegetation are considered, wool’s impact looks very different.

On leather, many argue it is a by-product of meat production (there’s a wealth of research on this). Without fashion, hides would often be landfilled, creating more waste and emissions.

We also look at the broader picture. The methane footprint from animal fibres is real, but at around 8.3 million tonnes a year it represents less than 1% of global methane emissions.

Natural fibres can and must reduce their impacts through better grazing and regenerative farming.

But does it make sense to call for the eradication of animal fibres from fashion altogether?

That feels extreme, and surely risks pushing the industry further towards fossil-derived synthetics with their own serious impacts.

There has to be a better way.