Recent Release | 08 Dec 2023
German Fashion Environmental Footprint
Economic Consulting Team
Oxford Economics
This report, following Oxford Economics’ work that estimated the economic impact of the German fashion industry, looks at the global environmental footprint that the industry has in terms of emissions, pollution and resource usage.
Germany is one of the largest markets for fashion in the world and is home to several of the world’s top fashion brands such as Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss. As such, trends and practices in the country’s fashion industry have a significant environmental impact that reaches across the globe.
Following on from our recent study on the economic impact of the German fashion industry, this report provides the first comprehensive look at the environmental impact of the industry. We look at its footprint through five important variables: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; energy use; air pollution;
water use; and agricultural land use.
Building a detailed understanding of these existing impacts is an important step towards managing and mitigating them in the future. In this report, we assess the impact of the industry in 2019, before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely reduced output across many sectors of the world economy. In this report, we have considered the impact of the operations of fashion brands and retailers within Germany, as well as the global impact of clothing and footwear sold in Germany but manufactured elsewhere.
The expert behind the research
Our Economic Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. The lead consultant on this project was:
Rob Harbron
Associate Director, Economic Impact
Tags:
Recent related reports
Key take-aways from COP30
COP 30’s agenda had placed a strong emphasis on countries’ implementation of their emissions reduction target and, for the first time, several workstreams included discussions on unilateral trade policies.
Find Out More
Flooding risks diverge across UK cities, sectors and economies
Climate-linked flooding is becoming more severe, reshaping risks for UK cities, real estate, and local economies. Which areas face the greatest impact—and why?
Find Out More
COP 30 in focus: How to stay the course on the path to Net Zero
EMDEs are projected to account for 70% of global CO₂ emissions by 2050, making accelerated emissions reductions in these economies essential. Yet gaps in AE leadership—such as US policy rollbacks and insufficient climate finance—risk slowing the global transition.
Find Out More
Advanced economy leadership is key to the low-carbon transition
We modelled how advanced-economy leadership in innovation and finance could accelerate a global low-carbon transition.
Find Out More
