Our fashion boom is a climate time bomb to be defused

India’s fashion and apparel industry is projected at $350 billion by 2030, as it is growing at over 10% annually, faster than almost any other manufacturing sector.

- SOUMYA SARKAR

This momentum looks unstoppable, but it is also becoming a climate liability that could get in the way of our decarbonization goals.

The arithmetic is unforgiving. Globally, fashion accounts for 10% of annual carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Every year, the world produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste, with less than 1% recycled into new garments. India is expanding production capacity even as evidence emerges that making clothes more efficiently cannot offset making vastly more of them.

The prevailing narrative in India treats sustainability as an accessory. Deploy some solar panels, use some recycled polyester, promote a few ethical brands, and the problem fixes itself. That story is not just incomplete, it is misleading. Efficiency improvements reduce emissions per garment, but when total garment production accelerates sharply, overall emissions still rise.

Research tracking the environmental footprint of fashion consistently finds that volume growth swallows efficiency gains. India’s domestic clothing consumption is growing at roughly 10-12% annually, far outpacing mature markets. Fast fashion formats are penetrating our smaller cities speedily, driven by affordability and novelty rather than apparel durability or scope for reuse.

We still have a narrow window to avoid the mistakes that rich markets made and are now struggling to reverse. But we must confront three realities that few talk about.