Aligning Apparel and Textile Sector Practices with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Balancing the Pillars of Sustainability
摘要
Uplifted by the United Nations and the pertinence of sustainability, there is a growing awareness of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Primarily, the UN SDGs are concerned with the three pillars of sustainability. The pillars include social, economic, and environmental concerns. The preceding research on these pillars majorly focused on only one of these pillars, leaving other aspects with insufficient data explorations. This chapter will critically analyse the literature and the existing industrial practices and discuss the correlation between the apparel and textile sectors and the UN SDGs. It also studies how the three pillars of sustainability in UN SDGs are handled and achieved in apparel and textile supply chains. It examines strategies for effectively balancing economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity, recognising the interconnectedness of these elements in driving sustainable development. It is known that every organisation or sector is equally responsible for the activities towards development in these three aspects. The majority of the existing industrial practices show that the present sustainable practices are not fulfilling the objectives of the SDGs as stated by the UN. Many types of actions can be taken by the apparel and fashion industry stakeholders to balance the pillars. Stakeholders’ sustainable development plans and actions concerned with the sustainability pillars and UN SDGs are proposed. The future research agenda and the critical areas of scope are also highlighted.