China is uniquely positioned to accelerate the apparel sector’s goal of cutting its emissions by 50% by 2030 according to a new report by the San Francisco-based Apparel Impact Institute (Aii).

Published in collaboration with Development Finance International (DFI), Landscape and Opportunities for the Decarbonization of China ‘s Textile and Apparel Manufacturing Sector, builds on the work of Chinese apparel sector stakeholders to explore the financing, implementation and policy landscape and offer practical pathways for scaling decarbonization across China’s textile and apparel sector.

Leadership

The country’s renewable energy leadership and significant apparel footprint will drive the decarbonization opportunity, with over 40,000 suppliers in the country having the operational scale and data to take immediate action. Additionally, the country’s vast industrial park infrastructure – in which more than 11,000 enterprises operate within over 1,300 textile industrial parks – can be leveraged to develop shared governance platforms and bundle project options that lower transition costs.

To realise the country’s potential in the apparel sector, the report calls for collaboration across and beyond the value chain to develop awareness, planning tools, technical expertise and accessible capital vehicles.

Mechanisms

The report further calculates that $40.8 billion will be required to achieve the 50% emissions reduction and while international finance institutions offer both financing and technical support, uptake remains limited due to complex requirements and higher interest rates. To best support suppliers, the report recommends the development of additional financing mechanisms, including blended models and deployment-linked grants, expanded local technical assistance and the integration of low-carbon planning into core business strategies. It also highlights the importance of sector-wide coordination and leveraging industrial parks as platforms for coordinated decarbonisation, shared infrastructure and the replication of pilot projects.

“China’s textile industry has the scale, capability and growing alignment to lead fashion’s next climate chapter,” says Dave de la Questa, head of operations in Asia at DFI. “The building blocks are already here and the next step is connecting them – linking finance, policy and industry so that every facility, no matter its size, can participate in the transition.”

“While financing and policy frameworks are essential, they only work when paired with practical, scalable and inclusive on-the-ground conditions that give manufacturers confidence and clarity,” adds Lewis Perkins, president and CEO at the Apparel Impact Institute. “This report offers a clear call to action – scale local financing, support supplier readiness and develop an infrastructure of collaboration that will deliver tangible results.”

The report can be accessed here.

www.apparelimpact.org